01/12/2005 (January 12, 2005) Zurich, Switzerland — The SEZ Group says that preliminary results show a falloff in net sales and orders in the fourth quarter compared to the third, but full-year net sales will set a record, up 78% to 303 million Swiss Francs ($243.8 million U.S.). The company believes that it has increased its share of the wet chemical wafer-cleaning market during the year, and also reiterated its expectation that full-year EBIT margin will come in at 14% to 15%.
01/12/2005 (January 12, 2005) Half Moon Bay, Calif. — The semiconductor industry will overcome the hurdle of the next two technology nodes, but the long list of required new materials will need to be shortened to make it economically viable, according to speakers on the second day of SEMI ISS 2005.
01/12/2005 Perched in the suburban Boston town of Westborough, American Superconductor in the 1990s rolled out its first product: high-temperature superconducting wire. As ceramic filaments interlaced through silver, the wire could carry far more electricity than copper wire and promised to revolutionize everything from power generation to ship propulsion. The problem? It cost so much more than copper.
01/11/2005 (January 11, 2005) Clinton, N.Y. — Indium's VP of Technology, Ning-Cheng Lee, Ph.D, and Senior Technologist, Ronald C. Lasky, Ph.D., PE, will both be presenting courses on lead-free electronic assembly at APEX in Anaheim, Calif. in February.
01/11/2005 (January 11, 2005) Nashua, N.H. — Future ICs using nanotechnology are forecasted to grow from $12.3 billion in 2009, at an average annual growth rate of 69.4%, to $172.0 billion by 2014, according to a new study recently released by FTM Consulting Inc. and distributed by KMI Research Inc.
01/11/2005 January 11, 2005 - Samsung Electronics yesterday announced it has developed chip packaging technology that enables it to stack eight bare memory chips in an ultra-slim single multichip package (MCP), said the Korea Times. The company's MCP technology integrates combinations of eight flash memory and random access memory (RAM) chips into a tiny 11 x 14 x 1.4mm chip package.
01/10/2005 January 10, 2005 - Sony Corp. said Friday it has agreed in principle with major Taiwanese LCD maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. to buy a Japanese factory belonging to one of Chi Mei's subsidiaries for 18.5 billion yen (US$176 million), reported Kyodo News International.
01/10/2005 (January 10, 2005) Santa Clara, Calif.—VLSI Research cites reasons why it doubts that the semiconductor equipment market will experience a downturn in 2005. VLSI Research says it expects equipment sales to rise 3.8% this year, although conditions are expected to deteriorate toward the end of the year and continue into 2006.
01/10/2005 Nanotech appears to be on lawmakersÂ’ minds as state governors and legislators set their agendas for 2005. A little over a week into the year, officials in New York, Texas and Colorado have either announced new nanotechnology-related investments and initiatives or demanded them of their governments as the race to be a nanotech powerhouse continues.
