Monthly Archives: March 2001

March 2, 2001–Tokyo, Japan–Fujitsu Ltd. now has its new $43 million systems chip testing center in Aizu Wakamatsu up and running, consolidating the testing of systems chips from its various assembly plants.

The company figures increasingly sophisticated testing to ensure shipping quality of increasingly complicated systems on a chip will be vital to success in that strategic market. Fujitsu claims that moving the testing function for its assembly plants to the central testing center will cut costs by 20% and improve efficiency by 30%. The plant, which employs 500, is expected to ship some $475 million (Y55 billion) a year worth of chips.

March 2, 2001–Gaithersburg, Maryland–Larger wafers demand exceedingly accurate measurements of flatness and thickness, while advanced lithography systems require exact assessments of the curvature of the specialized lenses and mirrors used. To make things more difficult, the readings must consistently be within 0.25nm.

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed an x-ray optics calibration interferometer device (XCALIBIR) that may help meet these needs. XCALIBIR’s operators hope to provide semiconductor manufacturers with atomic-level measurements of their “eyeglasses,” the optics by which circuit patterns are affixed to silicon wafers. Achieving such precise measurements requires XCALIBIR to be housed in an enclosure that controls the temperature to within 0.05 degree Celsius, and set upon a 15-metric-ton (16-ton) granite table that suppresses measurement-upsetting vibrations.

The instrument currently is undergoing performance testing.

March 2, 2001–Tokyo, Japan–Fujitsu Ltd. expects that it will see about 34% growth in its sales of semiconductors for the fiscal year ending March 31, not the 41% increase it expected as recently as October, on slower sales of logic chips for consumer products and personal computers.

Fujitsu projects operating margins will be about 15% of its $6.5 billion device sales, not the 17% it expected, but markedly better than last year’s 4%. The company now forecasts total net earnings will be only about $86 million (Y10 billion), and says that it will earn 77% less for the year ending March 31 than projected in October.

March 2, 2001–Hillsboro, Oregon–Lattice Semiconductor Corp. today announced that it expects revenue for the March 2001 quarter to be approximately 20% lower than revenue reported in the prior quarter. The company believes that this shortfall is the result of a general decline in PLD consumption within the communications and computing end markets.

Lattice expects gross margin as a percentage of revenue to be consistent with the prior quarter and operating expenses, although increasing as a percent of revenue, to decline in absolute terms from the prior quarter. Consequently, earnings before goodwill (EBG) for the March 2001 quarter are expected to be approximately 25% lower than EBG reported in the prior quarter.

“For the past several months overall semiconductor market conditions have been quite turbulent,” says Cyrus Y. Tsui, president and chief executive officer. “Within the PLD sector, what began as an inventory correction now appears to be exacerbated by a general slowdown in demand for our customers’ end products. Should macroeconomic conditions improve, we are hopeful of a return to sequential revenue growth in the second half of 2001.”

March 2, 2001–Boston, Massachusetts–PerkinElmer, Inc. announced today that it has acquired Applied Surface Technology (AST), a provider of proprietary processing techniques and services applied in semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment. Located in San Carlos, CA, AST’s annual revenue is approximately $7 million.

“The addition of AST will strengthen us as a leader in higher value added semiconductor and processing subsystems, and expand our consumables and services offerings to semiconductor manufacturers,” says Robert Barrett, president of PerkinElmer Fluid Sciences.

PerkinElmer Inc. is a $1.7B high technology company based in Boston, MA, operating in four businesses–Life Sciences, Fluid Sciences, Optoelectronics, and Instruments.

March 2, 2001–Corning, New York–In response to softness in the telecommunications industry, Corning Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of photonic devices, has announced a layoff involving 825 employees of Photonic Technologies’ Benton Park, PA, and Erwin Park, NY, manufacturing facilities.

On February 16, Corning adjusted its previous guidance for its Photonic Technologies businesses from 75% to 90% year-over-year revenue growth to approximately 50%. At that time, Corning indicated that layoffs were likely.

TAIPEI — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to construct four more 12-inch wafer plants over the next few years in order to meet a projected demand.

TSMC Chairman Morris Chang this week said that the company plans to “take aggressive actions in building new wafer plants.” The new facilities will be built in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park.

“If we stop expanding then it will be too late when demand is up. We will continue our capacity expansion,” Chang said.

TSMC has seven operational wafer plants in norther Hsinchi, one in Tainan, and several others elsewhere.

BOSTON, MA — Laboratory workers in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, especially those handling viruses, viral vectors, recombinant DNA, biological organisms, bacteria and fungi face a variety of potential health hazards.

But as attendees of CleanRooms East 2001, which will be held at the World Trade Center in Boston, March 12-14, can find out, those hazards are easily avoidable.

Dr. Brenda Barry, a senior associate and toxicologist at Newton, Mass.-based Environmental Health & Engineering, will host a new conference session entitled “Implementing Biosafety Practices for Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Laboratories” on Tuesday, March 13. The session will be held from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

According to Barry, the key to maintaining a safe working environment is through a proactive approach. The session will focus on laboratory reviews and compliance of guidelines imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute of Health as methods of ensuring safety for biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

“Sometimes you work with these materials and you get a little blase,” Barry says.

For more information about CleanRooms East 2001, please call (603) 891-9267.

March 2, 2001–Scottsdale, Arizona–IC Insights, a market research firm based in Scottsdale, AZ, believes that sequential quarterly growth will return to the IC industry beginning in 3Q01. Examining the last 5 IC industry downturns that have occurred over the past 20 years, IC Insights reports that there is both good and bad news regarding the current situation.

During each of the past 5 downturns, the initial quarterly decline in the IC market was always followed by 2 additional quarters of flat to negative sequential IC market results. However, IC Insights reports, the good news is that in every one of the past 5 downturns, the third quarter after the initial decline has always displayed positive sequential growth. This quarterly pattern held true even through the disastrous IC inventory burn year of 1985 and the global recession of 1998.

The current downturn portion of Cycle 6–the 6th IC industry cycle since 1970–began in 4Q00 with a 3% sequential quarterly decline in the IC market. Following historical trends, this negative quarter should be followed by quarterly IC market contractions in 1Q01 and 2Q01. However, sequential quarterly growth should return to the IC industry beginning in 3Q01. The timing of this renewed growth is expected to coincide with the elimination of the vast majority of the excess IC inventory that was accumulated by electronic system producers throughout 2000.

Interestingly, IC Insights points out that quarterly IC unit volume growth patterns are similar to those of IC dollar volumes. In all of the past 5 cyclical downturns since 1980, IC unit volume shipments recovered within 3 quarters after the first quarterly sequential decline was registered. Similar to the IC market, IC unit volume shipments first displayed a quarterly decline in 4Q00. Therefore, IC Insights expects quarterly IC unit volume growth to re-emerge in the IC industry beginning in 3Q01.

Dates Set for APEX 2002


March 2, 2001

APEX was organized by the IPC SMEMA Council in response to an industry need for a trade show that was cost-effective and fair for exhibitors, and highly focused on the products and technology of the electronics assembly industry. This approach, coupled with a premier conference program, organized by the industry, delivers the most attractive package to exhibition visitors. APEX features all segments of the electronics assembly industry, from bare boards to tested assemblies, and is the only show in North America that showcases machinery from every major pick-and-place equipment manufacturer.

NASHUA, NH – It’s official! Advanced Packaging magazine has launched The Advanced Packaging Awards competition for 2001 to celebrate product excellence in semiconductor packaging. The program aims to recognize outstanding product innovations that have helped to advance the industry as a whole.