Other Assets

Other assets consisted of the following (in thousands):

	September 30,		March 31,
	2017		2017
	(unaudited)
Marketable equity securities	$	1,649	$	1,771
Investments in convertible debt		9,063		503
Long-term equity method investments		12,551		11,589
Cost method investments		4,270		3,103
Other items		2,397		1,009
Total	$	29,930	$	17,975

Available-for-Sale Investments

Marketable equity securities and auction rate preferred securities are designated as available-for-sale and are reported

at fair value with unrealized gains and losses, net of income taxes, recorded in other comprehensive income (loss). Realized gains and losses (calculated as proceeds less specifically identified costs) and declines in value of these investments judged by management to be other than temporary, if any, are included in other income (expense), net.

Investments in Convertible Debt

invested in convertible debt issued by certain public and privately-held companies. Those investments are accounted for as available-for-sale securities. The total costs of these investments of

$9.1

million as of

September 30, 2017

and

$503,000

as of

March 31, 2017

approximated the fair value of these investments on the respective dates.

During the quarter ended

September 30,

2017,

we loaned

$4.4

million to North Texas Epitaxy, LLC, or NTE, an epitaxial wafer supplier, under a Secured Convertible Promissory Note. The note bears an interest rate of

and is repayable in

years. As part of this arrangement, we obtained security interests in the assets of NTE. Additionally, we have the option to convert the note into

95.0%

ownership of NTE.

Equity Method Investments

We have equity interests in Powersem GmbH, or Powersem, a semiconductor manufacturer based in Germany, EB Tech L

td., or EB Tech, a radiation services provider based in South Korea and Automated Technology, Inc., or ATEC, an assembly and test services provider in the Philippines. These investments are accounted for using the equity method. For the

three

and

six

months ended

September 30, 2017

we recorded an immaterial amount of our proportionate share of the affiliates’ gains and losses under the equity method of accounting. The carrying values of our investments in Powersem, EB Tech and ATEC at

September 30, 2017

were

$2.8

million,

$2.6

million and

$7.1

million, respectively. The carrying values of our investments in Powersem, EB Tech and ATEC at

March

31,

2017

were

$2.5

million,

$2.6

million and

$6.5

million, respectively.

Cost Method Investments

Our

investments in privately

-held businesses over which we do

not

have the ability to exercise significant influence and for which there is

not

a readily determinable market value are accounted for under the cost method of accounting. We do

not

estimate the fair value of those cost method investments because determining the fair value is

not

practicable.