Category Archives: Device Architecture

Today, Transphorm Inc. announced that its second generation, JEDEC-qualified high voltage gallium nitride (GaN) technology is now the industry’s first GaN solution to earn automotive qualification—having passed the Automotive Electronics Council’s AEC-Q101 stress tests for automotive-grade discrete semiconductors.

Transphorm’s automotive GaN FET, the TPH3205WSBQA, offers an on-resistance of 49 milliOhms (mΩ) in an industry standard TO-247 package. The part initially targets on-board charger (OBC) and DC to DC systems for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEV). Today, OBCs are uni-directional (AC to DC) using standard boost topologies. However, being that GaN FETs are bi-directional by nature, they become the perfect fit for the bridgeless totem-pole power factor correction (PFC) topology. Meaning, a bi-directional OBC can then be designed with GaN to reduce the number of silicon (Si) devices, weight and overall system cost of today’s solution.

“With the electrification of the automobile, the industry faces new system size, weight, performance, and cost challenges that can be addressed by GaN,” said Philip Zuk, Senior Director of Technical Marketing at Transphorm. “However, supplying this market means devices must meet the highest possible standards for Quality and Reliability, those set by the AEC. At Transphorm, we have a culture of Quality and Reliability. And, are proud to be leading the industry into the new era of in-vehicle power electronics.”

The automotive market is one of the fastest growing segments for all power semiconductors, with IHS Markit forecasting a $3 billion revenue by 2022. Due to its inherent attributes, Transphorm’s GaN can support a large portion of the market. When compared to incumbent tech such as superjunction MOSFETs, IGBTs and Silicon Carbide (SiC), those attributes include:

  • Up to 40 percent greater power density
  • Increased efficiency
  • Lower thermal budget
  • Reduced system weight
  • Up to 20 percent decrease in overall system cost
  • High volume manufacturing with 6-inch GaN on Silicon

As a result, Transphorm’s GaN can be used in other high voltage DC to DC automotive systems including air conditioning, heating, oil pumps and power steering.

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), a developer of advanced semiconductor systems, today announced that on March 14 it successfully won the auction for Cando Corporation assets, which will be utilized in establishing a back-end site for Micron Taiwan. Micron has now completed the title acquisition process for the new site.

The acquisition includes the cleanroom and tools that are adjacent to Micron’s existing Taichung fab, bringing the company’s fabrication and back-end together in one location. The new site will be focused on establishing a centralized back-end operation.

“This marks a significant step in our plan to create a center of excellence for leading-edge DRAM in Taiwan,” said Wayne Allan, VP, Global Manufacturing. “Bringing fabrication and back end together, all in one location, builds an efficient support structure for end-to-end manufacturing with quicker cycle times that benefit our business and customers.”

The new back-end site is expected to begin production in August, and the new integrated center of excellence is expected to bring greater operational cost efficiency that will benefit Micron’s DRAM business on a global scale. These cost efficiencies are part of the overall US$500 million of ongoing operational enhancement opportunities cited at the company’s 2017 analyst conference.

The strategic acquisition, with a winning bid of US$89.2 million, also highlights Micron’s goal to grow its presence in Taiwan – where it is the largest foreign employer and investor – from its current wafer manufacturing function to a broader center of expertise in the global memory industry. The back-end site will further enhance the company’s strong presence on the island, which already includes 300mm wafer fabrication facilities in Taichung and Taoyuan, as well as sales and technical support offices in Taipei.

The back-end operation will be led by site director Mike Liang, who joined Micron in November 2016 with more than 35 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Having previously served in leadership roles at Ti-Acer, KYEC and Amkor Taiwan, Liang brings significant expertise in both front-end wafer fabrication and back-end assembly and test manufacturing.

Intel Corporation today announced that Omar Ishrak and Greg Smith have been elected to Intel’s board of directors.

“We are very pleased to welcome two new, independent directors with the depth of leadership experience at innovative, global companies that both Mr. Ishrak and Mr. Smith bring,” said Intel Chairman Andy Bryant. “We look forward to their valuable contributions as Intel continues to transform itself for growth in emerging, adjacent market segments.”

Omar-IshrakIshrak, 61, is the chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology. He has served in that role since 2011. Prior to joining Medtronic, he spent 16 years in various roles with General Electric Company, most recently as president and chief executive officer of GE Healthcare Systems, a division of GE Healthcare. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Asia Society, which promotes mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context, and a member of the board of directors for Minnesota Public Radio.

Smith, 50, is the chief financial officer and executive vice president of corporate development and strategy at Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace and defense company. He has served as Boeing’s finance leader since 2012 and its strategy leader since 2015. Previously, Smith held various leadership roles across Boeing’s finance function and operations. He rejoined Boeing in 2008 after serving for four years as vice president of global investor relations at Raytheon. Smith serves on the board of trustees for the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and the board of directors of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Northwestern Medicine Community Physicians Group.

Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC), a provider of semiconductor solutions, today announced the planned closure of its manufacturing facility in China. Focused on lower value discrete solutions, the devices manufactured at the facility are not aligned with Microsemi’s strategic direction, and company resources will be invested elsewhere in higher value, higher growth products and end markets. Customers have been notified and the process of closure is under way. The company reports that no material impact on earnings for the company is expected due to this closure.

Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq:  MSCC) offers a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor and system solutions for aerospace & defense, communications, data center and industrial markets, and is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California. The company employs approximately 4,800 workers globally.

Transition metal oxides (TMO) are extensively studied, technologically important materials, due to their complex electronic interactions, resulting in a large variety of collective phenomena. Memory effects in TMO’s have garnered a huge amount of interest, being both of fundamental scientific interest and technological significance.

Dr. Amos Sharoni of Bar-Ilan University’s Department of Physics, and Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (BINA), has now uncovered a new kind of memory effect, unrelated to memory effects previously reported.

Dr. Sharoni, together with his student Naor Vardi, and supported by theoretical modelling by Yonatan Dubi of Ben-Gurion University in the Negev, utilized a simple experimental design to study changes in the properties of two TMOs, VO2 and NdNiO3, which undergo a metal-insulator phase-transition. Their results, just published in the journal Advanced Materials, not only demonstrate a new phenomenon but, importantly, also provide an explanation of its origin.

Ramp reversal memory

Metal-insulator transitions are transitions from a metal (material with good electrical conductivity of electric charges) to an insulator (material where conductivity of charges is quickly suppressed). These transitions can be achieved by a small variation of external parameters such as pressure or temperature.

In Sharoni’s experiment, when heated the studied TMOs transit from one state to another, and their properties undergo a change, beginning in a small area where “islands” develop and then grow, and vice-versa during cooling, similar to the coexistence of ice and water during melting. Sharoni cooled his samples while transition was in process, and then examined what happened when they were reheated. He found that when the reheated metal-oxide reached the temperature point at which re-cooling had occurred, that is, in the phase coexistence state – an increase in resistance was measured. And this increase in resistance was observed at each different point at which cooling was initiated. This previously unknown and surprising phenomenon demonstrates the creation of a “memory”.

Sharoni explains: “When the temperature ramp is reversed, and the sample is cooled rather than heated, the direction change creates a “scar” wherever there is a phase-boundary between the conducting and insulating islands. The ramp reversal sequence “encrypts” in the TMO a “memory” of the reversal temperature, which is manifested as increased resistance”. Moreover, it is possible to create and store more than one “memory” in the same physical space.

Sharoni likens the creation of a “scar” to the motion of waves on the seashore. A wave rushes up the beach and as it recedes it leaves a small sandy mound at the furthest point that it reached. When the wave returns it slows and brakes as it reaches the mound obstacle in its path. However, if a strong wave follows, it rushes over the mound and destroys it. Similarly, Sharoni found that further heating the TMO enables it to complete transition and to cross the scarred boundaries, “healing” the scars and immediately erasing the memory. In contrast cooling does not erase them.

Technology and security

The results of Sharoni’s work will have important impact on additional research, both experimental and theoretical, and the simplicity of the experimental design will enable other groups studying relevant systems to perform similar measurements with ease.

The multi-state nature of the memory effect, whereby more than one piece of information can coexist in the same space, could be harnessed for memory technology. And while deleted computer data is not secure and can be recovered, at least partially, by talented hackers, the “erase-upon-reading” property of this system could make an invaluable contribution to security technologies.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.today announced a successful network processor tape-out based on Samsung’s 14LPP (Low-Power Plus) process technology in close collaboration with eSilicon and Rambus. This achievement is built on Samsung’s cutting-edge foundry process and design infra for network applications, eSilicon’s complex ASIC and 2.5D design capability with its IP solutions, and Rambus’ high-speed 28G SerDes solution.

Samsung’s 14LPP process technology based on 3D FinFET structure has already been proven for its high performance and manufacturability through mass production track record. The next generation process for network application is 10LPP process which is based on 10LPE (Low-Power Early) of which mass production was started from last year for the first time in the industry. 10LPP process’ mass production will be started in this year end.

Additionally, Samsung named its newly developed full 2.5D turnkey solution, which connects a logic chip and HBM2 memory with an interposer, as I-CubeTM (Interposer-Cube) solution. This 14LPP network process chip is the first product that Samsung applied I-CubeTM solution together with Samsung’s HBM2 memory. The I-CubeTM solution will be essential to network applications for high-speed signaling, and it is expected to be adopted into other applications such as computing, server and AI in the near future.

“This successful 14nm network processor tape-out was combined with eSilicon’s proven design ability in network area and Rambus’ expertise in SerDes and Samsung’s robust process technology along with I-Cube solution,” said Ryan Lee, Vice President of Foundry Marketing Team at Samsung Electronics. “Our collaboration model will have a great influence on a network foundry segment and Samsung will keep developing its network foundry solution to be a meaningful total network solution provider aligned with its process roadmap from 14nm and 10nm to 7nm.”

“This project was a true collaboration between Samsung, Rambus and eSilicon. eSilicon is proud to bring its FinFET ASIC and interposer design skills along with our substantial 2.5D integration skills to the project,” said Patrick Soheili, Vice President of Product Management and corporate development at eSilicon. “Our HBM Gen2 PHY, custom flip-chip package design and custom memory designs also helped to optimize the power, performance and area for the project.”

“Networking OEMs are looking for high-quality leadership IP suppliers that can bring 28G backplane SerDes in advanced FinFET process nodes to market,” said Luc Seraphin, senior vice president and general manager of Rambus Memory and Interfaces Division. “Our success with Samsung and eSilicon is a testament that these industry-leading solutions are attainable when you bring leading companies together. This is the first of several other offerings we plan to bring to networking and enterprise ASIC markets around the globe.”

The technology leader in the DRAM industry has a greater advantage in terms of market share and profit.

BY HEISEUNG KIM and HEESANG LEE, Management of Technology Department at Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, South Korea

This paper presents an empirical study that links between firms’ technological leadership and the firms’ sustainability. While extant studies focused on the effect of incremental or radical innovation on the firm, a few researches have been carried out on the other types of innovation. In this study, architecture innovation in the DRAM industry is used to analyze how the continuous archi- tecture innovation of scaling affects firms’ performance. We compared the historical technology roadmap of each firm with their market share and profit data and concluded that continuous architecture innovation would positively affects the performance of a firm as well as its chance of survival. This study suggests that continuous architecture innovations are required in order to stay competitive in DRAM industry.

Introduction

Invented by Robert Dennard at IBM in 1966, Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) is one of the major types of semiconductor products. Since then, the DRAM market has grown significantly, accounting for $45.1 billion in sales in 2015 [1]. The DRAM industry has three main and crucial industry characteristics: product life cycle is short, it is technology driven, and it requires a huge investment [2]. The average DRAM product life cycle is about two to three years and the capacity ranges increased from 4K DRAM in 1974 to 2G DRAM in 2010. The implication of the short product life cycle is that the DRAM manufacturer with technology leadership will be able to recover their initial investment and gain more profit; therefore, the DRAM industry is highly driven by technology [3]. The technology leader can earn premium profit at the initial stage of a new product and benefit from additional profit by sustainability in the grown market. However, technology followers can suffer from price reduction when they launch a new product due to the mature state of a product life cycle, and it might thus be difficult to recover their initial investment [4]. The production of DRAM requires numerous steps with very expensive equipment; the cost of a new semiconductor fab is billions of dollars; a proper analysis and suitable strategy is therefore needed in order to compete with other comparative companies in the industry. In 1991, there were more than dozen DRAM production firms. However, by 2012, only four major companies survived: Samsung, SK Hynix, Elpida, and Micron [1].

The well-known scaling law of semiconductors, known as Moore’s Law, was used to review the technology development process in the semiconductor industry [5]. Recently, many researchers, including Mack and Kim, have argued that, even though Moore’s Law provided considerable insight into the semiconductor industry, it is no longer valid; they added that the physical and technical limitation will slow down the innovation and breakthrough technologies are necessary in the semiconductor industry [3-4,6]. Therefore, many companies and researchers are focusing on developing new memory devices, such as Magnetic RAM (MRAM) and Phase-change RAM (PRAM), to replace current DRAM memory. However, it is not clear how and when are the right time to replace the current DRAM memory with new memory devices and how it might affects the firms’ business performance [5,7-8]. In this paper, we will discuss how continuous architecture innovation affects the performance of DRAM companies in terms of market share and profit.

Innovation types

In the long run, technological innovation capabilities are the major source of competitive advantage and many companies are pursuing extensive research activities in order to stay competitive in the market [9]. The ability to develop and introduce new products or processes in shorter time periods is inevitable and has become the major competence for firms [10].

Henderson and his colleagues defined the types of innovation as four categories: incremental, archi- tecture, modular, and radical innovation [11], defined as follows:
• Incremental innovation: innovation with no change in architecture and concept.
• Architecture innovation: innovation with new archi- tecture but without change in concept.
• Modular innovation: fundamental change of techno- logical concept without change in architecture.
• Radical innovation: new architecture and new concept.
ByusingHenderson’sdefinition,thetypesofinnovation in the DRAM industry can be defined as shown in TABLE 1. In this paper, we will focus on the archi- tecture innovation which is the major innovation in DRAM industry [3,5].

Screen Shot 2017-04-20 at 10.11.44 PM

Market leadership and profit relationship

Many firms attempt to improve their performance through innovation and according to recent study by Bowen and his colleagues the relationship between innovation and the future performance of the firm is positive [12]. For many firms, including DRAM manufactures, maintaining a leadership position in the industry is a major goal because the duration of the stay at the top of the market reflects the length of time they might be able to enjoy the benefits as a market leader [13]. Therefore, a study is needed on the relationship between the market leader and the followers in terms of profits. In the case of the DRAM industry, the forces of competition are high and there are no room for slow followers to stay profitable; winner takes it all.

Continuous development

Van Valen introduced a theory known as the Red Queen Effect which states that competition will eliminate less fit organizations and stimulate organizational learning [14]. Therefore, continuous innovation is needed in order to maintain fitness relative to the system [15]. This theory explains the continuation of the never ending arms race which is due to the initial innovation of a firm which not only increases its competitiveness, but also decreases the competitiveness of its rivals. The rivals are threatened by an increased competitive pressure, and will respond to a competitor’s innovation with their own innovation, which then increases the competitive pressures in the market, creating a continual cycle of competitiveness [16]. The same theory is valid when assessing competitiveness in the DRAM industry. In 2007, the production by firms in the DRAM industry greatly increased, initiating a price war between the companies, known as the Chicken Game. After 2007, the price of DRAM dropped and DRAM manufacturers underwent a severe decrease in profits [1]. Those who prepared for this race were able to endure the race. However, those who were not prepared and decided to cut production could not withstand the massive supply of DRAM; such companies included Elpida, which lost its position as a leader in the more advanced technology. Their economies of scale reduced and due to the severe deficit, they lost their business and merged with Micron in 2013.

Screen Shot 2017-04-20 at 10.11.51 PM

Methodology and data

For the DRAM industry, the market share of the top four companies is about 95% of the total industry’s market share therefore the force of competitions and innovation-performance relationship are well repre- sented by these four companies. The market share and OPM data of the top four companies, Samsung, SK Hynix, Elpida, and Micron, were used in this study and the market share data was refined to represent only these four companies [1]. The data from third quarter of 2006 to 2012 is used because chicken game started at 2007 and Elpida was merged to Micron at 2013. For the companies’ historical product roadmap, development histories of different nodes were obtained from each company’s press releases. For the statistical data of the market share and the operating profit margin (OPM) was obtained from market research firm, IHS isuppli.

Results and discussions

FIGURE 1 shows the trend of the market share change in terms of companies’ historical roadmaps in the DRAM industry. The same numbers of color, 6x, 5x, 4x, 3x 2x nm, indicates the same device generations of architecture innovation and showing the technology gap among firms. For example, Samsung’s 68nm node is competing with SK Hynix’s 66nm and SK Hynix is one quarter behind than Samsung. As expected, the market share of the technology leader, Samsung, is the highest. Samsung has the highest market share of slightly above 40% and SK Hynix has about 25%. Elpida and Micron both have a market share of about 15%. Also, the market share of the technology leader increased as Samsung managed to develop next node product faster than competitors. Technology ranking exactly matches the market share ranking and Samsung was able to maintain their technology and market leadership.

Screen Shot 2017-04-20 at 10.11.59 PM

FIGURE 2 shows the profit ranking among the DRAM manufactures in terms of device generations. Profit might be more important factor than market share for the firms’ sustainability since it is directly connected to the firms’ survival as seen during the chicken game. Samsung, the market and technology leader, shows the highest Operating Profit Margin (OPM). The profit ranking changed once for Samsung in the second quarter of 2007, during the chicken game. After the second quarter of 2007, Samsung retained the title of the most profitable firm in the DRAM industry. However, there were many fluctuations for the firms that ranked second and less. During 2007 to 2012, Samsung had a negative profit quarter five times [1]. This is very low compared to the 12 times shown by the second leader, SK Hynix, 16 times by Elpida, and 17 times by Micron.

Screen Shot 2017-04-20 at 10.12.05 PM

A previous study by Weber and Yang suggested that in semiconductor industry while leading edge manufac- turers make large profits, but their ROI (Return On Investment) might be lower than the slow followers [17]. This might be true for logic semiconductor devices, since the logic firms produce much specified products and, most of the time, the competitiveness of such firms does not derive from the most advanced scaling node or continuous architectural innovation; rather it derives from optimization, design, and customer value. However, for the DRAM industry, the effect of logic’s competitiveness is limited since the price of DRAM, as a commodity, is determined by the market and the main competitiveness is how many bits that firms can produce in a restricted area of 300nm wafers. Therefore, slow follower probably not able to compete in the market in terms of price.

TABLE 2 shows the ranking data of Samsung from third quarter of 2006 to 2012. Samsung, the market and technology leader was able to manage to stand at the top in terms of technology and market share. In terms of profit, Samsung ranked 2nd only for one quarter in 2007 and managed to return 1st rank due to techno- logical advantage. This result suggests that Samsung was able to maintain its position even during the chicken game and was able to stay fit in the market and make profit compared to the other companies. In the case of the DRAM industry, continuous architecture innovation means that the number of chips per wafer would increase as innovation succeeded. The delayed development of the next generation device would lead to SK Hynix, Elpida, and Micron producing fewer DRAM chips per wafer than Samsung, which led to the increase of the DRAM manufacturing cost. Staying competitive in the market by continuous architecture innovation is most important for DRAM manufac- turers’ as it enables more profit to be made than the competitors; Elpida could not stand the large amount of deficit and merged to Micron.

Conclusions

In this study, the benefits of being the technology leader of architecture innovation in the DRAM industry are clearly shown, where the technology leader has a greater advantage in terms of market share and profit than the competitors. Also, the technology leader has more resilience when the industry is undergoing a difficult time, and would be able to perform better than other firms. The firms that do not continue to innovate will not survive. In 2002, 11 DRAM manufac- turers were competing intensely in the market; however currently, only 3 major DRAM manufacturers had survived. Many large firms such as Qimonda and Elpida failed to survive. The critical factor which deter- mines the ability to dominate in the DRAM industry is continuous architecture innovation. For example, EUV lithography is necessary for continuous architectural innovation since the next scaling node will require smaller patterning with multi-patterning of ArF, which needs many additional steps and processes than EUV process. However, the application of a 450mm sized wafer is not considered as an architectural innovation since the 450nm wafer does not improve the structure of the device. Therefore, it is considered an incremental innovation for the DRAM industry; the 450nm sized wafer is not urgent and not yet required. This study provides understanding for firms to suggest which technology that they need to focus on in order to stay competitive in the market in the future.

References

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Peregrine Semiconductor Corp., a Murata company and the founder of RF SOI (silicon on insulator), today announces the acquisition of Arctic Sand Technologies. An MIT spin-off, Arctic Sand designs and manufactures low-power semiconductors for use in DC-DC power conversion applications. This strategic acquisition will accelerate Murata’s vision to revolutionize power electronics with the world’s smallest, most efficient power solutions.

“Arctic Sand is the epitome of an innovative startup,” says Jim Cable, chairman and CTO of Peregrine Semiconductor and global R&D director at Murata Manufacturing. “With this acquisition, Peregrine and Murata gain Arctic Sand’s disruptive technology, strong IP portfolio and world-class team. With a vision to revolutionize the power electronics industry, we’re building the power integrated circuit (IC) ‘dream team’. We will now leverage Peregrine’s semiconductor expertise to accelerate the adoption of Arctic Sand’s technology and their ability to ship in volume. With this acquisition, we’re one step closer to dramatically smaller, lighter, faster and more efficient power solutions.”

Through this acquisition, Arctic Sand’s low-power semiconductors will be added to Murata’s existing product lineup in order to enhance and expand its power module business in not just the telecommunications market, but also the data communications and industrial electrical markets. Furthermore, Murata will be able to accelerate Arctic Sand’s existing business targeting applications in mobile computing, smartphones and LCD display panels. Arctic Sand will continue to develop high efficiency power conversion ICs and now has the added benefit of Peregrine’s SOI semiconductor expertise and Murata’s industry-leading inductors, capacitors and packaging.

“Bringing together Arctic Sand’s low-power semiconductor technologies and Murata’s technologies will allow us to lead the way in providing products that satisfy the needs of customers in growing markets where there is demand for small footprints, low profiles and power savings,” says Norio Nakajima, executive vice president, Communication & Sensor Business Unit/Energy Business Unit, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Arctic Sand’s technology delivers industry-leading power conversion efficiency so that platforms for a variety of applications can be made thinner. In certain applications, Arctic Sand’s technology reduces the space occupied by power components by 50 percent, reduces the height of component by 3x, reduces losses in power management by up to one half and increases platform run time by more than one hour. Combining this technology with Murata’s modular technologies will make it possible to provide solutions with high integration and excellent conversion efficiency in a wide range of low-power fields. Demand for these technologies is expected to grow even further as electrical and electronic components become smaller and thinner.

Peregrine, a subsidiary of Murata, originally identified Arctic Sand’s technology as a key component for successful development of disruptive power management solutions. Peregrine became a Murata company in Dec. 2014 and has since added a power electronics design team with focused efforts on fast switching active devices and innovative circuit design. With design centers in London and San Diego, Peregrine’s power IC team will integrate and collaborate with Arctic Sand’s teams in Boston and Silicon Valley.

“This highly synergistic acquisition will enable Arctic Sand’s disruptive technology to gain widespread market traction,” says Gary Davison, CEO of Arctic Sand Technologies, “With the added strengths of Murata and Peregrine, we can bring game-changing innovation to a power electronics market that desperately needs it.”

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, this week announced its support for the House “Better Way” corporate tax reform proposal as an appropriate starting point for reform. The proposal is expected to be considered by Congress this year.

“The “Better Way” corporate tax reform blueprint would make America’s corporate tax system more competitive and allow U.S. semiconductor companies to grow, innovate, and create more jobs here in the United States,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “While there are many details of significance to our industry that need to be understood and addressed, we support the proposal as a framework for moving forward with tax reform.

“We recognize the debate is just getting underway. SIA intends to work closely with Congress and the Administration to pass corporate tax reform to improve the competitiveness of the United States as a location for semiconductor research, design, manufacturing, and export.”

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.97 billion in billings worldwide in February 2017 (three-month average basis), according to the February Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide billings of North American equipment manufacturers in February 2017 was $1.97 billion. The billings figure is 6.1 percent higher than the final January 2017 level of $1.86 billion, and is 63.8 percent higher than the February 2016 billings level of $1.20 billion.

“Billings levels remain elevated as memory and foundry manufacturers continue to invest in advanced semiconductor technologies,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “These investments are paving the way for the ramp of 3D NAND and 1X-nm devices.”

The SEMI Billings report uses three-month moving averages of worldwide billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

 

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Year-Over-Year
September 2016

$1,493.3

-0.1%
October 2016

$1,630.4

20.0%
November 2016

$1,613.3

25.2%
December 2016

$1,869.8

38.5%
January 2017 (final)

$1,859.4

52.3%
February 2017 (prelim)

$1,973.1

63.8%
Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), March 2017

 

SEMI ceased publishing the monthly North America Book-to-Bill report in January 2017.  The decision to discontinue the Book-to-Bill report was based on changes in reporting by some participants where the reporting of orders/bookings into the data collection program is no longer considered a necessary component of their industry analysis.