Category Archives: Materials and Equipment

Synopsys, Inc. today announced that the company’s Custom Compiler tool has been enabled by Samsung for 14 nanometer (nm) LPP and LPC FinFET production. The process delivers high performance for compute-intensive designs and lower power consumption for mobile applications. Custom Compiler is a custom design solution from Synopsys that was announced on March 30th of this year. Custom Compiler support is provided through a jointly developed interoperable process design kit (iPDK)-format design kit. Unified with Synopsys’ circuit simulation, physical verification and digital implementation tools, Custom Compiler provides Samsung 14nm LPP and LPC process users with a comprehensive custom design solution.

“Samsung support for Custom Compiler is very important to our mutual customers,” said Bijan Kiani, vice president of product marketing at Synopsys. “Through close collaboration, the two companies were able to deliver a design kit and set of tool features that enable Custom Compiler’s visually-assisted automation flow for Samsung Foundry customers.”

Custom Compiler shortens the time it takes to complete custom design tasks from days to hours—especially for FinFET process nodes. Its visually-assisted automation leverages the graphical use model familiar to layout designers while eliminating the need to write complicated code and constraints. With Custom Compiler, routine and repetitive tasks are dealt with automatically without extra setup. Custom Compiler’s visually-assisted automation provides four types of assistants: Layout, In-Design, Template and Co-Design. Layout Assistants speed layout with user-guided automation of device placement and routing. In-Design Assistants reduce design iterations by catching physical and electrical errors before signoff verification. Template Assistants help designers reuse existing know-how by making it easy to apply previous layout decisions to new designs. Co-Design Assistants combine the IC Compiler place-and-route tool and Custom Compiler into a unified solution for custom and digital implementation. Custom Compiler is based on the industry standard OpenAccess database. It provides an open environment spanning schematics, simulation analysis and layout. Unified with Synopsys’ circuit simulation, physical verification and digital implementation tools, Custom Compiler provides a comprehensive custom design solution.

IC Insights will release its May Update to the 2016 McClean Report later this month.  This Update includes a discussion of the 1Q16 semiconductor industry market results, an update of the capital spending forecast by company, a review of the IC market by electronic system type, and a look at the top-25 1Q16 semiconductor suppliers (the top 20 1Q16 semiconductor suppliers are covered in this research bulletin).

The top-20 worldwide semiconductor (IC and O S D—optoelectronic, sensor, and discrete) sales ranking for 1Q16 is shown in Figure 1.  It includes eight suppliers headquartered in the U.S., three in Japan, three in Taiwan, three in Europe, two in South Korea, and one in Singapore, a relatively broad representation of geographic regions.

The top-20 ranking includes three pure-play foundries (TSMC, GlobalFoundries, and UMC) and six fabless companies. If the three pure-play foundries were excluded from the top-20 ranking, U.S.-based IDM ON Semiconductor ($817 million), China-based fabless supplier HiSilicon ($810 million), and Japan-based IDM Sharp ($800 million) would have been ranked in the 18th, 19th, and 20th positions, respectively.

IC Insights includes foundries in the top-20 semiconductor supplier ranking since it has always viewed the ranking as a top supplier list, not a marketshare ranking, and realizes that in some cases the semiconductor sales are double counted.  With many of our clients being vendors to the semiconductor industry (supplying equipment, chemicals, gases, etc.), excluding large IC manufacturers like the foundries would leave significant “holes” in the list of top semiconductor suppliers.  As shown in the listing, the foundries and fabless companies are identified.  In the April Update to The McClean Report, marketshare rankings of IC suppliers by product type were presented and foundries were excluded from these listings.

Overall, the top-20 list shown in Figure 1 is provided as a guideline to identify which companies are the leading semiconductor suppliers, whether they are IDMs, fabless companies, or foundries.

Figure 1

Figure 1

In total, the top-20 semiconductor companies’ sales declined by 6% in 1Q16/1Q15, one point less than the total worldwide semiconductor industry decline of 7%.  Although, in total, the top-20 1Q16 semiconductor companies registered a moderate 6% drop, there were seven companies that displayed a double-digit 1Q16/1Q15 decline and three that registered a ≥25% fall (with memory giants Micron and SK Hynix posting the worst results).  Half of the top-20 companies had sales of at least $2.0 billion in 1Q16.  As shown, it took $832 million in quarterly sales just to make it into the 1Q16 top-20 semiconductor supplier list.

There was one new entrant into the top-20 ranking in 1Q16—U.S.-based fabless supplier AMD.  AMD had a particularly rough 1Q16 and saw its sales drop 19% year-over-year to $832 million, which was about half the $1,589 million in sales the company logged just over two years ago in 4Q13.  Although AMD did not have a good 1Q16, Japan-based Sharp, the only company that fell from the top-20 ranking, faired even worse with its 1Q16/1Q15 sales plunging by 30%!

In order to allow for more useful year-over-year comparisons, acquired/merged semiconductor company sales results were combined for both 1Q15 and 1Q16, regardless of when the acquisition or merger occurred.  For example, although Intel’s acquisition of Altera did not close until late December of 2015, Altera’s 1Q15 sales ($435 million) were added to Intel’s 1Q15 sales ($11,632 million) to come up with the $12,067 million shown in Figure 1 for Intel’s 1Q15 sales.  The same method was used to calculate the 1Q15 sales for Broadcom Ltd. (Avago/Broadcom), NXP (NXP/Freescale), and GlobalFoundries (GlobalFoundries/IBM).

Apple is an anomaly in the top-20 ranking with regards to major semiconductor suppliers. The company designs and uses its processors only in its own products—there are no sales of the company’s MPUs to other system makers. Apple’s custom ARM-based SoC processors had a “sales value” of $1,390 million in 1Q16, up 10% from $1,260 million in 1Q15.  Apple’s MPUs have been used in 13 iPhone handset designs since 2007 and a dozen iPad tablet models since 2010 as well as in iPod portable media players, smartwatches, and Apple TV units.  Apple’s custom processors—such as the 64-bit A9 used in iPhone 6s and 6s Plus handsets introduced in September 2015 and the new iPhone 6SE launched in March 2016—are made by pure-play foundry TSMC and IDM foundry Samsung.

Intel remained firmly in control of the number one spot in 1Q16.  In fact, it increased its lead over Samsung’s semiconductor sales from 29% in 1Q15 to 40% in 1Q16.  The biggest moves in the ranking were made by the new Broadcom Ltd. (Avago/Broadcom) and Nvidia, each of which jumped up three positions in 1Q16 as compared to 1Q15.

As would be expected, given the possible acquisitions and mergers that could/will occur this year (e.g., Microchip/Atmel), as well as any new ones that may develop, the top-20 semiconductor ranking is likely to undergo a significant amount of upheaval over the next few years as the semiconductor industry continues along its path to maturity.

SEMI today announced the second annual edition of the SEMI European MEMS Summit, dedicated to MEMS and sensors, to be held on September 15-16. After a successful inaugural event in Milan that attracted 265 attendees, this year’s SEMI European MEMS Summit will convene in Stuttgart, one of the world’s major MEMS and Sensor hubs.

MEMS volumes are expected to nearly double, compared to today’s levels, and reach 30 billion units by 2020, based on a Yole Developpement forecast.  While the growth is impressive, challenges exist, and through the SEMI European MEMS Summit’s unique combination of plenary executive talks, exhibition and networking opportunities, major issues will be addressed for discussion and collaboration:

  • Making sensors smaller, smarter, and cheaper
  • Emerging technologies and readiness, maturity
  • Price and margin pressures and business models
  • Markets dynamics and new opportunities

In addition, leading companies will share key messages on their product and business strategic development.  Sessions will focus on automotive, consumer electronics and wearables, Internet of Things (IoT), and more.

“Stuttgart is the ideal location for the 2016 SEMI European MEMS Summit, and we look forward to exchanging views on the latest advances in the MEMS industry,” said Klaus Meder, president of Automotive Electronics at Robert Bosch GmbH.

The conference program is developed by a steering committee composed of industry and thought leaders including ASE, Bosch, Bosch Sensortec, CEA-Leti, EV Group, Fraunhofer ENAS, Fraunhofer IZM, IHS, NXP, Okmetic, Sencio, SPTS, STMicroelectronics, SUSS MicroTec, X-Fab, and Yole Developpement.  The program will feature executive speakers from organizations shaping the industry and will be announced in late spring.

Registration for the conference, exhibition and sponsorship packages are open for bookings with ‘early bird’ prices valid until May 31.  Visit www.semi.org/europeanMEMSSummit for details and more information.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:  CDNS) today announced that, Geoff Ribar, senior vice president and chief financial officer, who joined the company in 2010, has decided to retire from Cadence effective March 31, 2017.

Cadence has initiated a comprehensive search to identify the company’s next chief financial officer.  Mr. Ribar is working with Cadence president and chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan in the search process. Once the new chief financial officer is appointed, Mr. Ribar will work collaboratively on the transfer of responsibilities and remain actively involved with Cadence through his retirement date.  After retiring next year, Mr. Ribar looks forward to remaining active in the technology and semiconductor industries through board memberships and other professional activities.

Lip-Bu Tan, president and CEO, said, “Geoff has been a tremendous partner to me and the company over the past five and a half years.  As an integral member of the leadership team, he has driven us forward and made long-lasting contributions to the company.  During Geoff’s tenure, we have consistently met or exceeded our financial objectives, improved both our operating margin and cash flow, strengthened the balance sheet, and optimized our return of capital.  Geoff has done an outstanding job of executing on the strategy and management philosophy that the Board and I have put in place, and has built a strong finance team.  Geoff’s departure is bittersweet for all of us, and I congratulate him on a successful career as a CFO and wish him well in the next chapter of his professional life.”

“It has been an honor to serve as CFO of Cadence and I’m extremely grateful for the support of my colleagues and the talented extended team,” said Mr. Ribar. “I also want to thank Lip-Bu for his leadership and trust. I am fully committed to ensuring a smooth transition and maintaining our excellent momentum throughout this transition process.”

To overcome the current market and technology constraints taking place today within the semiconductor industry, new advanced packaging technologies have been developed by industrial companies. Leaders in the advanced packaging industry have identified new solutions enabling more and more functionalities to be integrated along with many devices in the same package. Yole Développement analysts are currently noting plenty of excitement within the advanced packaging sector: research, innovation and industrialization are the key words of the current industry status.
In this context, NCAP China (NCAP) and Yole Développement (Yole) are pursuing their collaboration and have announced the second Advanced Packaging & System Integration Technology Symposium:
• The symposium will take place in Wuxi, China, on April 21 & 22.
• Click program & registration to see the schedule, list of speakers, abstracts, and more.

In 2014, the first symposium was a notable success: in addition to attracting more than 80 attendees, the show generated numerous valuable discussions, meetings and business collaborations. In 2016, NCAP and Yole are excited to welcome the leaders of the advanced packaging industry for the second time, and are expecting a similar success. They have announced an impressive list of executive speakers including:
•  Li Ming, R&D Director, ASM Pacific technology
•  Ruurd Boomsma, Sr. VP Die Attach & CTO Besi Die Attach & Besi Group
•  Farhang Yazdani, President & CEO, BroadPak Corporation
•  Herb He Huang, Ph.D., Sr. Director, 3DIC & Sensors Technology Development, Corporate R&D Center, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC)
•  And many more: the lists of speakers, biographies, and abstracts are available on the i-micronews website. To download the PDF version, click Program & Abstracts.

The collaboration between NCAP & Yole is based on strategic thinking from both organizations. Both names and their international reputation send a strong signal to the advanced packaging community.

NCAP is a technology development center. Its aim is to build up leading edges in advanced packaging by IP licensing and commercialization of technology development and transformation, with a smart combination of the packaging supply chain constraints. This organization has, of course, an important role to play at the national level by developing and supporting valuable advanced packaging expertise and capabilities with local industrial partners.

“The whole advanced packaging industry is facing unbalanced development of semiconductor equipment and materials,” explained Dr. Cao LiQiang, CEO of NCAP. “Prices and cost monitoring are crucial to ensuring the sustainability of the companies.”

For its part, as a “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting company, Yole is pursuing its research within the advanced packaging world and is expanding its expertise and understanding of this industry, day after day. The number of technology and market reports available each year and dedicated custom collaborations with multiple companies throughout the advanced packaging supply chain show the leadership of the consulting company within this sector.

“At Yole, we expect solid advanced packaging market growth reaching US$30 billion by 2020,” explained Thibault Buisson, Business Unit Manager, Advanced Packaging & Semiconductor Manufacturing at Yole (Source: Status of the Advanced Packaging Industry 2015 report, Yole Développement, November 2015). And he added: “We currently see substantial activity in the Advanced Packaging ecosystem: many companies from different business models are getting involved in this area and the competition is intensifying, New innovative platforms such as System-in-Package, Fan-Out packages and 2.5D/3D technology are changing the industry landscape and turning a new page in Advanced Packaging evolution. This is the motivation behind the organization of the Advanced Packaging & System Integration Symposium. The symposium emphasizes the value transition in packaging and is aimed at providing answers to the current challenges and key questions that the industry is facing today.”

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“The Advanced Packaging & System Integration Technology Symposium taking place next week in China is the result of Yole & NCAP powerful collaboration, a combination of both technical know-how and market expertise,” said Jean-Christophe Eloy, President & CEO, Yole Développement. He adds, “It clearly represents a wonderful opportunity for advanced packaging companies to develop, exchange and expand their activities to the advanced packaging industry in China and also in all other countries.”

NCAP and Yole are extremely enthusiastic about the 2nd advanced packaging symposium. Both partners welcome all industry leaders including: Alpha Szenszor, ASE Group, ASM Pacific Technology, Besi, BroadPak, Evatec, EV Group, JCAP, HuaTian Technology, Huawei, Plasma-Therm, Sinyang, SPTS/Orbotech, STATS ChipPAC, Zeta Instruments, and more. To see the full schedule, please click here: Program.

Moreover, on the afternoon, and on a volunteer basis, NCAP will invite the participants to visit its facilites. Program includes NCAP Introduction, Material Consortium Plan Introduction, Lab Tour.
For more information about the schedule and registration, please contact: Clotilde Fabre ([email protected]), Communication Coordinator, at Yole Développement.

Imec, the nanoelectronics research center, today announced that its annual Imec Technology Forum (ITF) in Brussels will take place May 24-25, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium at SQUARE, Brussels Meeting Centre. ITF Brussels is the flagship of imec’s worldwide series of technology forums that brings experts and visionaries together to discuss the future of technology and tech-innovation to market. This year’s theme is “Daring to Take a Different View—Nanotechnology in the Hot Seat,” which will explore nanotechnology from all angles, question its future course, and identify new applications and paths for its use.

“The heart of imec is innovation and collaboration, and ITF Brussels will demonstrate that. Innovation is the result of hard work, endless questions, challenges to the status quo. Attendees will experience first-hand how constantly pushing these boundaries is essential to come up with groundbreaking solutions and stimulate innovation,” stated Luc Van den hove, president and CEO of imec. “The recent events in Brussels have deeply touched all of us, however the city is open for business and travel. Imec is privileged to bring our partners and international guests together in Brussels to focus on this year’s theme.”

Expecting to draw more than 1,000 attendees, ITF Brussels will offer numerous expert speakers from within the imec organization such as An Steegen, senior vice president process technology, and Wim Van Thillo, director perceptive systems for IoT, automotive and wireless. Industry speakers will also headlineincluding C-level executives from Samsung, Mentor Graphics, ASM International, Infineon Technologies, GlobalFoundries, J&J Pharmaceuticals, Audi, Microsoft, to name just a few.

ITF Brussels will introduce two new additions to the conference line up: interactive panel discussions and imec hot seats. Hot topics in today’s technology discussion will be explored such as “Scaling is dead. Long live scaling.”; “How close are we to precision medicine?’; “It’s a software world but it would be nothing without hardware?”, and “Combining ecological and economical sustainability.” Panelists will comprise both imec and guest partner executives and offer their various perspectives, and attendees will have an interactive role with panel voting and Q&A. Imec hot seats will place imec experts front and center to answer attendee questions, exchange ideas, investigate collaboration opportunities and consider different views. Spanning its vast R&D focus, topics such as energy, IoT, healthcare, services, and CMOS will be analyzed.

ITF Brussels 2016 takes place May 24-25, 2016 at the SQUARE, Brussels Meeting Centre. For the full list of speakers, conference program, registration and more information, please visit: http://www.itf2016.be/Homepage/page.aspx/2098

Molex, a global manufacturer of electronic solutions, announced today the acquisition of Interconnect Systems, Inc. (“ISI”) which specializes in the design and manufacture of high density silicon packaging with advanced interconnect technologies.

According to Tim Ruff, senior vice president, Molex, the acquisition enables Molex to offer a wider range of fully integrated solutions to customers worldwide. “We are excited about the unique capabilities and technologies the ISI team brings to Molex. ISI’s proven expertise in high-density chip packaging strengthens our platform for growth in existing markets and opens doors to new opportunities.”

Headquartered in Camarillo, California, ISI delivers advanced packaging and interconnect solutions to top-tier OEMs in a wide range of industries and technology markets, including aerospace & defense, industrial, data storage and networking, telecom, and high performance computing. ISI uses a multi-discipline customized approach to improve solution performance, reduce package size, and expedite time-to-market for customers.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Molex. By combining respective strengths and leveraging their global manufacturing footprint, we can more efficiently and effectively provide customers with advanced technology platforms and top-notch support services, while scaling up to higher volume production,” said Bill Miller, president, ISI.

The flip chip technology market market is expected to grow from $19.01 billion in 2015 to $31.27 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 7.1% between 2016 and 2022, according to the new market research report “Flip Chip Technology Market by Wafer Bumping Process (CU Pillar, Lead-Free), Packaging Technology (2D IC, 2.5D IC, 3D IC), Packaging Type (BGA, PGA, LGA, SIP, CSP), Product (Memory, LED, CPU, GPU, SOC), Application and Geography – Global Forecast to 2022,” published by MarketsandMarkets.

The flip chip technology market is driven by factors such as increasing demand for miniaturization and high performance in electronic devices, and strong penetration in consumer electronics sector.

3D IC packaging technology to register the highest growth rate

On the basis of packaging technology, the Flip Chip Technology Market is segmented into 2D IC, 2.5D IC, and 3D IC packaging technology. With the semiconductor technology moving towards integration of diverse chips, 2.5D IC packaging technology and 3D IC packaging technology are becoming the mainstream trend in obtaining the integration objectives. Owing to the growing demand for increasing density, higher bandwidth, and lower power, design teams are expected to adopt 3D ICs with TSVs, which promise ‘more than Moore’ integration by packaging a great deal of functionality into small form factors, while improving performance and reducing costs.

Applications in consumer electronics held the largest market size and would also grow at the highest rate

Smartphones & tablets are observed to have the highest adoption among all the consumer electronic devices, owing to their small form factor and better performance requirements to operate at a higher bandwidth, at a relatively lower cost. The automotive market is expected to grow at a second-highest CAGR rate, catapulting the flip chip technology market further.

The market in Asia-Pacific to grow at the highest rate

The APAC held a large share of the overall flip chip technology market in 2015; moreover, the market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2016 and 2022. Countries in Asia-Pacific are major manufacturing hubs and are expected to provide ample opportunities for the growth of the flip chip technology. The growing demand for high performance in smartphones and automotive MCUs is driving the market in this region.

Major players in this market are Intel (U.S.), TSMC (Taiwan), Samsung (South Korea), and GlobalFoundries (U.S.), ASE group (Taiwan), Amkor Technology (U.S.), UMC (Taiwan), STATS ChipPAC (Singapore), Powertech Technology (Taiwan), and STMicroelectronics (Switzerland) among others.

On the basis of wafer bumping process, the flip chip technology market is segmented into copper pillar, lead free, tin/lead eutectic solder, and gold stud+ plated solder. The product segment consists of CPU, SoC, GPU, memory, LED, CMOS image sensor, and RF, mixed signal, analog, and power IC. On the basis of application, the market is segmented into consumer electronics, telecommunications, automotive, industrial sector, medical devices, smart technologies, and military and aerospace. The packaging type segment includes FC BGA, FC PGA, FC LGA, FC QFN, FC SiP, and FC CSP. The packaging technology in flip chip has been segmented into 2D IC, 2.5D IC, and 3D IC. This global report gives a detailed view of the market across the four regions, namely, Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World which includes the Middle East and Africa. The report profiles the 10 most promising players in the flip chip technology market.

Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited (AOS) (Nasdaq:AOSL), a designer, developer and global supplier of a broad range of power semiconductors and power ICs, today announced that it has executed a definitive agreement with two strategic investment funds owned by the Municipality of Chongqing, China, to form the previously announced joint venture for a new state-of-the-art power semiconductor packaging/testing and wafer fabrication facility in the Liangjiang New Area of Chongqing.

The initial capitalization of the Joint Venture under the agreement will be $330 million. This reflects cash contributions, primarily from the Chongqing funds, as well as existing packaging and testing equipment from AOS, and certain AOS intellectual property relating to packaging and wafer manufacturing technology. AOS will own 51%, and the Chongqing funds will own 49%, of the equity interest in the Joint Venture. The Joint Venture agreement is subject to approval by the relevant Chinese authorities.

“We are excited to begin this partnership, which we believe will enable both AOS and Chongqing to grow and prosper,” said Dr. Mike Chang, chairman and CEO of AOS. “This joint venture with Chongqing represents an important milestone in our strategic roadmap. It will help further diversify our offerings of power semiconductor products and improve our access to customers in China as we work to accelerate our long-term growth and profitability.”

The Joint Venture is expected to commence its initial packaging production in mid 2017. Prior to that, AOS intends to gradually relocate a majority of its assembly and testing equipment to the Joint Venture from its existing facility in Shanghai, which will continue as a center of supply chain management, technology development, and high-value production. Over the longer term, the Joint Venture expects to construct a 12-inch wafer fabrication facility for the production of power semiconductors.

The Joint Venture is designed to bring together the technological and operational capability of AOS in power semiconductor product manufacturing with the capital resources and regional infrastructure support of the Chongqing authority.

According to IC Insights’ new 2016 edition of The McClean Report, total worldwide semiconductor industry capital spending is forecast to show low single-digit growth in 2016 after registering a 1% decline in 2015.  As discussed below, last year’s drop in semiconductor industry capital spending was a significant departure from historical patterns that go back more than 30 years.

Figure 1 shows the annual worldwide semiconductor industry capital spending changes from 1983-2015.  Over the past 33 years, there have been six periods when semiconductor industry capital spending declined by double-digits rates for one or two years (1985-1986, 1992, 1997-1998, 2001-2002, 2008-2009, and 2012-2013).  It is interesting to note that in every case except the 2012-2013 spending downturn, within two years after the period of decline in capital spending, a surge in spending of at least 45% occurred.  The second year increases in spending after the cutbacks were typically stronger than the first year after a downturn with the lone exception to this being the 2010 spending rebound after the 2008-2009 downturn.  This was because most semiconductor producers tend to act very conservatively coming out of a market slowdown and wait until they have logged about 4-6 quarters of good operating results before significantly increasing their capital spending again.

As shown in Figure 1, the streak of strong capital spending growth within two years after a spending cutback timeperiod ended in 2015, with capital spending registering a 1% decline.  IC Insights believes that this is yet another indication of a maturing semiconductor industry.

Figure 1

Figure 1

More detailed information on semiconductor industry capital spending, including 2016 capital spending forecasts by company, can be found in IC Insights’ flagship market research report, The McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry. The new 478-page McClean Report provides IC market and technology trend forecasts from 2016 through 2020.