Electronic News is an online publication that currently covers just the semiconductor production equipment industry. It was originally a weekly trade newspaper, which covered all aspects of the electronics industry including semiconductors, computers, software, communications, space and even television electronics.
Fairchild Publications started the newspaper in 1957, as a complement to its other trade newspapers, including Women's Wear Daily, Home Furnishing Daily, Supermarket News, among others. At its peak in 1984, Electronic News took in $25 million in revenue with margins above 50%.[citation needed] The following year, the newspaper began losing advertising and influence to rival Electronic Engineering Times, beginning a decline that eventually led to the newspaper's demise.[citation needed]
In 1971, journalist Don Hoefler published a series of articles entitled "Silicon Valley, USA" in Electronic News. This is thought to be the first published use of the phrase Silicon Valley to describe the area of the southern part of the San Francisco Bay area in northern California, USA, an area known for its concentration of companies making semiconductors, among them Intel, LSI Logic, National Semiconductor.
Also in 1971, Electronic News was where Intel first advertised the Intel 4004 microprocessor, considered to be the first single-chip microprocessor.[1]