Category Archives: Metrology

Global semiconductor industry revenue grew 4.4 percent, quarter over quarter, in the second quarter of 2018, reaching a record $120.8 billion. Semiconductor growth occurred in all application markets and world regions, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

“The explosive growth in enterprise and storage drove the market to new heights in the second quarter,” said Ron Ellwanger, senior analyst and component landscape tool manager, IHS Markit. “This growth contributed to record application revenue in data processing and wired communication markets as well as in the microcomponent and memory categories.”

Due to the ongoing growth in the enterprise and storage markets, sequential microcomponent sales grew 6.5 percent in the second quarter, while memory semiconductor revenue increased 6.4 percent. “Broadcom Limited experienced exceptional growth in its wired communication division, due to increased cloud and data-center demand,” Ellwanger said.

Memory component revenue continued to rise in the second quarter, compared to the previous quarter, reaching $42.0 billion dollars. “This is the ninth consecutive quarter of rising revenue from memory components, and growth in the second quarter of 2018 was driven by higher density in enterprise and storage,” Ellwanger said. “This latest uptick comes at a time of softening prices for NAND flash memory. However, more attractive pricing for NAND memory is pushing SSD demand and revenue higher.”

Semiconductor market share

Samsung Electronics continued to lead the overall semiconductor industry in the second quarter with 15.9 percent of the market, followed by Intel at 13.9 percent and SK Hynix at 7.9 percent. Quarter-over-quarter market shares were relatively flat, with no change in the top-three ranking. SK Hynix achieved the highest growth rate and record quarterly sales among the top three companies, recording 16.4 percent growth in the second quarter.

IC Insights released its August Update to the 2018 McClean Report earlier this month.  This Update included a discussion of the top-25 semiconductor suppliers in 1H18 (the top-15 1H18 semiconductor suppliers are covered in this research bulletin) and Part 1 of an extensive analysis of the IC foundry market and its suppliers.

The top-15 worldwide semiconductor (IC and O-S-D—optoelectronic, sensor, and discrete) sales ranking for 1H18 is shown in Figure 1.  It includes seven suppliers headquartered in the U.S., three in Europe, two each in South Korea and Taiwan, and one in Japan.  After announcing in early April 2018 that it had successfully moved its headquarters location from Singapore to the U.S. IC Insights now classifies Broadcom as a U.S. company.

Figure 1

As shown, all but four of the top 15 companies had double-digit year-over-year growth in 1H18. Moreover, seven companies had ≥20% growth, including the five big memory suppliers (Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Toshiba/Toshiba Memory, and Western Digital/SanDisk) as well as Nvidia and ST.

The top-15 ranking includes one pure-play foundry (TSMC) and four fabless companies. If TSMC were excluded from the top-15 ranking, U.S.-based Apple would have been ranked in the 15th position. Apple is an anomaly in the top company 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. IC Insights estimates that Apple’s custom ARM-based SoC processors and other custom devices had a “sales value” of $3.5 billion in 1H18.

IC Insights includes foundries in the top-15 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. Foundries and fabless companies are identified in the Figure. 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-15 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.

In May 2018, Toshiba completed the $18.0 billion sale of its memory IC business to the Bain Capital-led consortium. Toshiba then repurchased a 40.2% share of the business. The Bain consortium goes by the name of BCPE Pangea and the group owns 49.9% of Toshiba Memory Corporation (TMC). Hoya Corp. owns the remaining 9.9% of TMC’s shares. The new owners have plans for an IPO within three years. Bain has said it plans to support the business in pursing M&A targets, including potentially large deals.

As a result of the sale of Toshiba’s memory business, the 2Q18 sales results shown in Figure 1 include the combined sales of the remaining semiconductor products at Toshiba (e.g., Discrete devices and System LSIs) and the new Toshiba Memory’s NAND flash sales. The estimated breakdown of these sales in 2Q18 is shown below:

Toshiba System LSI: $468M
Toshiba Discrete: $315M
Toshiba Memory Corporation: $3,107M
Total Toshiba/Toshiba Memory Corporation 2Q18 Sales: $3,890M

In total, the top-15 semiconductor companies’ sales surged by 24% in 1H18 compared to 1H17, four points higher than the total worldwide semiconductor industry 1H18/1H17 increase of 20%. Amazingly, the Big 3 memory suppliers—Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, each registered greater than 35% year-over-year growth in 1H18. Fourteen of the top-15 companies had sales of at least $4.0 billion in 1H18, three companies more than in 1H17. As shown, it took just over $3.7 billion in sales just to make it into the 1H18 top-15 semiconductor supplier list.

Intel was the number one ranked semiconductor supplier in 1Q17 but lost its lead spot to Samsung in 2Q17 as well as in the full-year 2017 ranking, a position it had held since 1993. With the continuation of the strong surge in the DRAM and NAND flash markets over the past year, Samsung went from having only 1% more total semiconductor sales than Intel in 1H17 to having 22% more semiconductor sales than Intel in 1H18!

It is interesting to note that memory devices are forecast to represent 84% of Samsung’s semiconductor sales in 2018, up three points from 81% in 2017 and up 13 points from 71% just two years earlier in 2016. Moreover, the company’s non-memory sales in 2018 are expected to be only $13.5 billion, up 8% from 2017’s non-memory sales level of $12.5 billion. In contrast, Samsung’s memory sales are forecast to be up 31% this year and reach $70.0 billion.

The 64thannual IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), the world’s largest, most influential forum for technologists to unveil breakthroughs and new concepts in transistors and related micro/nanoelectronics devices, will be held December 1-5, 2018 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square hotel. The late-news submission deadline is September 10.

The IEDM’s tradition of spotlighting more leading work in more areas of the field continues, even as the conference evolves to support the interdisciplinary and continuing educational needs of the scientists, engineers and students whose efforts make possible the expansion of the worldwide electronics industry.

“We live in a time when electronics technology touches more aspects of business and industry than ever before,” said Kirsten Moselund, IEDM 2018 Publicity Chair and Research Staff Member at IBM Research–Zurich. “No matter what their specialty is, attendees will come away from the conference with a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities before them.”

“In terms of industrial applications, the evening panel session on EUV will give attendees the opportunity to explore and debate this emerging technology with the very people who are driving it forward,” said Rihito Kuroda, IEDM 2018 Publicity Vice Chair and Associate Professor at Tohoku University. “This is just one way in which the IEDM conference gives people insights into the technologies that will become mainstream in a few years.”

Here are details of some of the talks and events that will take place at this year’s IEDM. The papers to be presented in the technical sessions will be chosen in late September and highlights from them will be forthcoming soon thereafter:

Focus Sessions

  • Quantum Computing – Quantum computing will enable new types of algorithms to tackle problems in areas from materials science to medicine to artificial intelligence. We are still in early stages, facing fundamental questions such as: What is the best way to implement a quantum bit of information? How to connect them together? How to scale to larger systems without being overwhelmed by errors? This session brings together experts at the forefront of quantum computing research. Starting from an applications perspective, attendees will hear about different approaches to address fundamental questions at the device level; the progress achieved so far; and next steps.
    • Application Requirements for Quantum Computing, John Preskill, Caltech
    • Materials and Device Challenges for Near-Term Superconducting Quantum Processors, Jerry Chow, IBM
    • Towards Scalable Silicon Quantum Computing, Maud Vinet, CEA-Leti
    • Silicon Isotope Technology for Quantum Computing, Kohei Itoh, Keio University
    • Qubit Device Integration Using Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Process Technology, Ravi Pillarrisetty, Intel
    • Scalable Quantum Computing with Single Dopant Atoms in Silicon, Andrea Morello, Univ. New South Wales
    • Majorana Qubits, Leo Kouwenhoeven, Microsoft
  • Future Technologies Towards Wireless Communications: 5G and Beyond– 5G technology will drastically reduce limitations on accessibility, bandwidth, performance, and latency, but as it triggers fundamentally new applications it also will impose unique hardware requirements. This focus session will set a big picture view and then narrow down to how innovations in CMOS technologies, devices, filters, transceivers and antennas are coming together to enable the 5G platform.
    • Intel 22nm FinFET (22FFL) Process Technology for RF and mmWave Applications and Circuit Design Optimization for FinFET Technology, Hyung-Jin Lee, Intel
    • RFIC/CMOS Technologies for 5G, mmWave and Beyond, Ali Niknejad, UC Berkeley
    • GaN HEMTs for 5G Base Station Applications, Shigeru Nakajima, Sumitomo Electron Devices
    • Highly Integrated mm-Wave Transceivers for Communication Systems,Vadim Issakov, Infineon
    • BAW Filters for 5G Bands, Robert Aigner, Qorvo
    • Reconfigurable Micro/Millimeter-wave Filters, Dimitrios Peroulis, Purdue
  • Challenges for Wide Bandgap Device Adoption in Power Electronics– Wide bandgap (WBG) power devices offer potential savings in both energy and cost. But converters powered by WBG devices require innovation at all levels, entailing changes to system design, circuit architecture, qualification metrics and even market models. Can SiC or GaN push beyond what silicon can possibly achieve? What are the big challenges researchers should answer over the next decade? A team of experts will interpret the landscape and discuss challenges to the widespread adoption of these technologies.
    • GaN and SiC Devices for Automotive Applications, Tetsu Kachi, Nagoya University
    • SiC MOSFET for Mainstream Adoption, Peter Friedrichs, Infineon
    • GaN Power Commercialization with Highest Quality-Highest Reliability 650V HEMTs- Requirements, Successes and Challenges, Primit Parikh, Transphorm
    • The Current Status and Future Prospects of SiC High Voltage Technology, Andrei Mihaila, ABB
    • Barriers to Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Device Adoption in Power Electronics, Isik Kizilyalli, ARPA-E
    • High to Ultra-High Voltage SiC Power Device Technology, Yoshiyuki Yonezawa, AIST
    • Effects of Basal Plane Dislocations on SiC Power Device Reliability, Robert E. Stahlbush, Naval Research Laboratory
  • Interconnects to Enable Continued Technology Scaling –BEOL copper (Cu) interconnects are close to end-of-life as a manufacturing technology, while the increasing complexity of MEOL processes requires novel materials. Also, the end of the Cu roadmap will coincide with significant changes in the dominant transistor architecture, and therefore the interaction between transistor architecture and interconnect will drive future interconnect development. This session provides a holistic perspective of interconnect scaling challenges and solutions. It will address the drivers of future interconnect architectures, the process options likely to be implemented in manufacturing, and how they will be tuned to ensure circuit reliability is maintained.
    • Interconnect Design and Technology Optimization for Conventional and Exotic Nanoscale Devices: A Physical Design Perspective, Naeemi, Georgia Tech
    • Mechanisms of Electromigration Damage in Cu Interconnects, K. Hu, IBM
    • Interconnect Metals Beyond Copper: Reliability Challenges and Opportunities, K. Croes, Imec
    • Microstructure Evolution and Effect on Resistivity for Cu Nano-interconnects and Beyond, Paul Ho, UT Austin
    • Integrating Graphene into Future Generations of BEOL Interconnects,-S. Philip Wong, Stanford
    • Interconnect Trends for Single Digit Nodes, Mehul Naik, Applied Materials

90-Minute Tutorials – Saturday, Dec. 1

A series of 90-minute tutorial sessions on emerging technologies will be presented by experts in the fields, bridging the gap between textbook-level knowledge and leading-edge current research.

  • Reliability Challenges in Advanced Technologies,Ryan Lu, TSMC
  • STT-MRAM Design and Device Requirements, Shinichiro Shiratake, Toshiba Memory
  • Quantum Computing Primer, Mark B. Ritter, IBM
  • Power Transistors in Integrated BCD Technologies, Hal Edwards, Texas Instruments
  • Design-Technology Co-optimization at RF and mmWave, Bertand Parvais, IMEC
  • Emerging Device Technologies for Neuromorphic Computing, Damien Querlioz, CNRS

Short Courses – Sunday, Dec. 2

Full-day Short Courses will be held, offering the opportunity to learn about important areas and developments, and to network with experts from around the world.

  • It’s All About Memory, Not Logic!, organized by Nirmal Ramaswamy, Micron
  • DRAM: Its Challenging History and Future, Dong Soo Woo, Samsung
  • 3D Flash Memories: Overview of Cell Structures, Operations and Scaling Challenges, Makoto Fujiwara, Toshiba Memory Corporation.
  • Emerging Memories Including Cross-Point, Opportunities and Challenges, Kiran Pangal, Intel
  • Memory Reliability, Qualification and their Relation to System-Level Reliability Strategies, Todd Marquart, Micron
  • Packaging Technology for High Bandwidth Memory, Nick (Namseog) Kim, SK Hynix
  • Processing in Memory (PIM): Performance and Thermal Challenges and Opportunities, Mircea Stan, UVA
  • Scaling Survival Guide in the More-than-Moore Era, organized by Jin Cai, TSMC
  • Extreme-UV Lithography – Principles, Present Status and Outlook,Tony Yen, ASML
  • MOSFET Scaling Knobs (GAA, NCFET…) and Future Alternatives,Witek Maszara, Globalfoundries
  • Overcoming Variation Challenges, Sivakumar Mudanai, Intel
  • Embedded Memory: Present Status and Emerging Architecture and Technology for Future Applications,Eric Wang, TSMC
  • 3D Integration for Density and Functionality,Julien Ryckaert, Imec
  • Advanced Packaging: the Next Frontier for Moore’s “Law,” Subramanian Iyer, UCLA

Plenary Presentations – Monday, Dec. 3

  • Future Computing Hardware for AI, Jeffery Welser, Vice President, IBM Research-Almaden
  • “4th Industrial Revolution and Foundry: Challenges and Opportunities,” Eun Seung Jung, President of Foundry Business, Samsung Electronics
  • The Status, Challenges and Opportunities of 5G, Prof. Gerhard P. Fettweis, TU Dresden

Evening Panel Session – Tuesday evening, Dec. 4

  • EUV: Too Little, Too Late, Too Expensive or the Ultimate Cure-All?,organized by Sanjay Natarajan, Senior VP of Applied Materials. Much progress has been made in EUV patterning technology, and yet manufacturing throughput, masks, pellicles and resists still persist as problems today. The complexity of reliably transferring features at the 7nm node and below using quadruple patterning and 193nm immersion is affecting yield, affecting the cost-per-gate reduction and slowing down Moore’s Law. The industry eagerly awaits EUV, but is it too little, too late and too expensive, or is it the ultimate panacea? A team of world-renowned experts from the leading logic and memory IDMs, foundries and fabless companies will vigorously debate the issue.

Luncheon – Wednesday, Dec. 5

The speakers are yet to be determined, but IEDM will have a new lunch event this year that features industry leaders engaging the audience on the state of the industry, and on careers in device and VLSI technology.

Vendor Exhibition/Poster Sessions

  • A vendor exhibition will be held once again, with special exhibit events in the evenings.
  • This year two poster sessions will be held, one on MRAM technology organized by the IEEE Magnetics Society, the other a student research showcase hosted by the Semiconductor Research Corporation.

Further information about IEDM

For registration and other information, visit www.ieee-iedm.org.

Follow IEDM via social media

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Nordson SONOSCAN, a developer and producer of acoustic micro imaging (AMI) tools, announces its new Gen7™ laboratory style acoustic micro-imaging tool. The new Gen7 AMI tool enhances operator productivity and part throughput rate by providing greater versatility in transducer movement, faster scanning of samples, and faster processing of data.

Orders are now being taken for the Gen7 AMI tool, which, like its predecessors in the Nordson SONOSCANC-SAM® line, is designed for analytical work on small numbers of samples, although it can also screen modest quantities of components. Among its differentiating features:

  • 50% higher screening throughput from faster transducer motors.
  • Scan area significantly enlarged, so more parts can be scanned at one time.
  • Upward and downward range of Z movement of the transducer more than doubled to enable scanning of samples having a greater range of height variation.
  • Windows® 10 operating system and Sonolytics 2™ user interface have replaced Windows® 7 and Sonolytics™, respectively.
  • Intel’s i7 seventh generation chips make the system’s computer hardware 33% faster, giving, for example, quicker delivery of Digital Image Analysis.
  • Both monitors have high resolution 4K screens to reveal more detail.
  • Includes Waterplume™ technology, so a separate C-SAM tool is not needed to image IGBT modules.

Users will notice that frequently used menu items now appear in the User Interface, eliminating the need to open a menu. Other changes include easy access to the current timing mode in the A-Scan and the ability to Go To a TOF directly from the movement interface.

On the heels of a 37.3% growth in wafer front end (WFE) semiconductor equipment growth in 2017, the market will grow only 10% in 2018 to $62.3 billion, according to the report “The Global Semiconductor Equipment: Markets, Market Shares, Market Forecasts,” recently published by The Information Network, (www.theinformationnet.com) a New Tripoli, PA-based market research company.

For the first six months of 2018, WFE billings were $35.3 billion, meaning billings of $27.0 billion will be registered in the second half of 2018 if the sector as a whole grows 10% in CY 2018.

This means a drop of 24% between 1H 2018 and 2H 2018.

The chart below shows that U.S. equipment companies held a 48.8% share of the total sector in 1H 2018 followed by Japan with a 30.3% share and ROW (primarily Europe) with a 26.9% share. For 2H 2018, the weak Japanese Yen means Japan will have a 29.1% share, but stronger EUV sales by ASML will mean Europe’s share will grow to 28.0%.

The memory market is moving into a period of oversupply: NAND oversupply started six months ago and has resulted in device price drops, while DRAMs will reach an oversupply situation in the next few months. As a result, market leader Samsung Electronics has pushed out purchases. Foundry leader TSMC has reduced its estimate for sales revenue growth in 2018 and its capital expenditure budget.

SEMI today announced that all legal requirements have been met for the ESD (Electronic Systems Design) Alliance to become a SEMI Strategic Association Partner.

Full integration of the Redwood City, California-based association representing the semiconductor design ecosystem is expected to be complete by the end of 2018. The integration will extend ESD Alliance’s global reach in the electronics manufacturing supply chain and strengthen engagement and collaboration between the semiconductor design and manufacturing communities worldwide.

As a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, the ESD Alliance will retain its own governance and continue its mission to represent and support companies in the semiconductor design ecosystem.

The ESD Alliance will lead its strategic goals and objectives as part of SEMI, leveraging SEMI’s robust global resources including seven regional offices, expositions and conferences, technology communities and activities in areas such as advocacy, international standards, environment, health and safety (EH&S) and market statistics.

With the integration, SEMI adds the design segment to its electronics manufacturing supply chain scope, connecting the full ecosystem. The integration is a key step in streamlining SEMI members’ collaboration and connection with the electronic system design, IP and fabless communities. The Strategic Association Partnership will also enhance collaboration and innovation across the collective SEMI membership as ESD Alliance members bring key capabilities to SEMI’s vertical application platforms such as Smart Transportation, Smart Manufacturing and Smart Data as well as applications including AI and Machine Learning.

“The addition of ESD Alliance as a SEMI Strategic Association Partner is a milestone in our mission to drive new efficiencies across the full global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain for greater collaboration and innovation,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “This partnership provides opportunities for all SEMI members for accelerated growth and new business opportunities in end-market applications. We welcome ESD Alliance members to the SEMI family.”

“Our members are excited about becoming part of SEMI’s broad community that spans the electronics manufacturing supply chain,” said Bob Smith, executive director of the ESD Alliance. “Global collaboration between design and manufacturing is a requirement for success with today’s complex electronic products. Our new role at SEMI will help develop and strengthen the connections between the design and manufacturing communities.”

All ESD Alliance member companies, including global leaders ARM, Cadence, Mentor, a Siemens business, and Synopsys, will join SEMI’s global membership of more than 2,000 companies while retaining ESD Alliance’s distinct self-governed community within SEMI.

The demise of Qualcomm’s pending $44 billion purchase of NXP Semiconductors in late July along with growing regulatory reviews of chip merger agreements, efforts by countries to protect domestic technology, and the escalation of global trade friction all suggest semiconductor acquisitions are hitting a ceiling in the size of doable deals.  It is becoming less likely that semiconductor acquisitions over $40 billion can be completed or even attempted in the current geopolitical environment and brewing battles over global trade.

IC Insights believes a combination of factors—including the growing high dollar value of major chip merger agreements, complexities in combining large businesses together, and greater scrutiny of governments protecting their domestic base of suppliers—will stifle ever-larger mega-transactions in the semiconductor industry in the foreseeable future.  Figure 1 ranks the 10 largest semiconductor merger and acquisition announcements and underscores the growth in size of these M&A transactions.  Eight of the 10 largest announcements occurred in the last three years with only the biggest deal (Qualcomm buying NXP) failing to be completed.

Figure 1

It is important to note that IC Insights’ M&A list only covers semiconductor suppliers, chipmakers, and providers of integrated circuit intellectual property (IP) and excludes acquisitions of software and system-level businesses by IC companies  (such as Intel’s $15.3 billion purchase of Mobileye, an Israeli-based developer of digital imaging technology for autonomous vehicles, in August 2017).  This M&A list also excludes transactions involving semiconductor capital equipment suppliers, material producers, chip packaging and testing companies, and design automation software firms.

Qualcomm’s $44 billion cash purchase of NXP would have been the largest semiconductor acquisition ever if it was completed, but the deal—originally announced in October 2016 at nearly $39 billion and raised to $44 billion in February 2018—was canceled in the last week of July because China had not cleared the transaction.  China was the last country needed for an approval of the merger, and it was believed to be close to clearing the purchase in 2Q18, but growing threats of tariffs in a brewing trade war with the U.S. and moves to block Chinese acquisitions of American IC companies caused China to taken no action on the $44 billion acquisition in time for a deadline set by Qualcomm and NXP.  U.S.-based Qualcomm canceled the acquisition on July 26 and quickly paid NXP in the Netherlands a $2 billion breakup fee so the two companies could move on separately.

Prior to Qualcomm’s failed $44 billion offer for NXP, the largest semiconductor acquisition was Avago Technologies’ $37 billion cash and stock purchase of Broadcom in early 2016.  Avago renamed itself Broadcom Limited after the purchase and launched a failed $121 billion hostile takeover bid for Qualcomm at the end of 2017.  It lowered the unsolicited bid to $117 billion in February 2018 after Qualcomm raised its offer for NXP to $44 billion.  In March 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump blocked Broadcom’s $117 billion takeover bid for Qualcomm after concerns were raised in the U.S. government about the potential loss of cellular technology leadership to Chinese companies, if the hostile acquisition was completed. After the presidential order, Broadcom executives said the company was considering other acquisition targets, with cash, that would be smaller and more focused.

The global semiconductor industry has been reshaped by a historic wave of mergers and acquisitions during the past three years, with about 100 M&A agreements being reached between 2015 and the middle of 2018 with the combined value of these transactions being more than $245 billion, based on data collected by IC Insights and contained within its Strategic Reviews database subscription service and in The 2018 McClean Report on the IC Industry.  A record-high $107.3 billion in semiconductor acquisition agreements were announced in 2015.  The second highest total for semiconductor M&A agreements was then reached in 2016 at $99.8 billion.   Semiconductor acquisition announcements reached a total value of $28.3 billion in 2017, which was twice the industry’s annual average of about $12.6 billion in the first half of this decade but significantly less than 2015 and 2016, when M&A was sweeping through the chip industry at historic levels.  In the first six months of 2018, semiconductor acquisition announcements had a total value of about $9.6 billion, based on IC Insights’ running tally of announced M&A deals.

By Walt Custer

2Q’18 Electronic Supply Chain Growth Update

  • Chart 1 is a preliminary estimate of global growth of the electronic supply chain by sector for 2Q’18 vs 2Q’17. Note the strong performance of semiconductors, SEMI capital equipment and passive components.
  • Chart 2 gives preliminary 2Q’18 world electronic equipment growth by type. Global electronic equipment sales rose an estimated 9%+ when consolidated into US dollars in the second quarter of this year compared to the same quarter in 2017.
  • Based on this, data global electronic equipment sales growth appears to have now peaked on a 3/12 growth basis for this present business cycle (Chart 3).

As a caution these charts are based on a combination of actual company financial reports and estimates for companies that have not yet reported their calendar second quarter financial results. A number of large companies have yet to report but these early estimates have historically been close to final growth values.  We will update Chart 1 next month.

Semiconductor Capital Equipment Business Cycle

  • Semiconductor capital equipment sales are historically very volatile, with their growth fluctuating MUCH MORE than electronic equipment (Chart 4). However, both series appear to have peaked on a 3/12 basis for this current cycle.

  • Semiconductors, SEMI capital equipment and Taiwan chip foundry sales all are seeing slower growth. 3/12 values >1 still indicate an expansion but slower growth is indicated.

Supply chain performance in the second half of this year bears careful watching!

Walt Custer of Custer Consulting Group is an analyst focused on the global electronics industry.

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

By Laith Altimime

In a bid to reinvigorate Europe’s electronics strategy and strengthen the region’s position in key emerging technologies, European electronics industry CEOs in June called on public and private actors to accelerate collaboration at the European Union and national levels. The CEO’s proposed new strategic actions include creating a European Design Alliance to pool the expertise of design houses and forming an electronics education and skills task force consisting of representatives from industry, research, European institutions, member states and SEMI.

The business executive’s calls – embodied in “Boosting Electronics Value Chain in Europe,” a report submitted to Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, of the European Commission – come as global competition in the electronics industry intensifies. The document highlights Europe’s need to buttress its position amongst others in artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous driving and personalized healthcare – applications that rely on new semiconductor architectures, materials, equipment and design methodologies.

The European semiconductor industry plans to pour more than 50 billion EUR into technology development and innovation by 2025, deepening its investments in research, innovation and manufacturing to help drive Europe’s digital transformation.

For its part, SEMI, as the industry association connecting the electronics value chain, is well-positioned to bring together member companies and public actors to address key challenges facing the sector. This year in April, SEMI announced that Electronics System Design Alliance (ESD Alliance) will join SEMI, adding key electronics design companies to SEMI membership and unlocking the full potential of collaboration between electronics design and manufacturing.  With the ESD Alliance, SEMI adds the product design segment to the electronics supply chain, streamlining and connecting the full ecosystem. The integration also promises to support the industry coordination required to develop specialized (AI) chips used in various smart applications.

SEMI Europe is also accelerating its education and workforce development activities. SEMI Europe this year created its Workforce Development Council Europe, chaired by Emir Demircan, SEMI Europe’s senior manager of public policy, based in Brussels. The council is designed to connect electronics industry human resources representatives with members to evolve best practices in hiring that help Europe gain, train and retain world-class talent.

Other SEMI Europe workforce development activities include the following:

  • SEMI member forums across Europe are helping young talent with career opportunities in the semiconductor industry.
  • In November, SEMICON Europa will host a Career Café where STEM students will explore careers in electronics design and manufacturing.
  • With the participation of representatives from the European Commission, SEMI Europe’s Industry Strategy Symposium in April focused on strategies for attracting more skilled workers into electronics design and manufacturing.

Looking ahead, semiconductor sales is forecast to reach USD 1 trillion by 2030. The global semiconductor industry is at the heart of a new era of connectivity, developing breakthrough solutions for ascendant data-driven technologies such as AI and Internet of Things (IoT). SEMI Europe’s role in strengthening the region’s position in the global electronics industry to help drive this extraordinary growth is critical. SEMI Europe will continue to foster public-private partnerships to tackle industry challenges that are too big, too risky and too costly for companies and government institutions to address alone.

Contact: Laith Altimime, President, SEMI Europe, [email protected] ; Emir Demircan, Sr Manager Public Policy, [email protected]

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

By Cherry Sun

Aiming to forge stronger ties between the two technology heavyweights as partners in semiconductor industry innovation, SEMI and CASPA (Chinese American Semiconductor Professional Association) in mid July signed a strategic cooperation agreement to promote industry innovation between Silicon Valley and China. Under the agreement, SEMI and CASPA will work to connect Silicon Valley and China industry resources and encourage greater collaboration.

The agreement, signed at the “SIIP China Innovation and Investment Forum: Innovation at Scale: from IoT, Cloud to AI & ADAS” in Silicon Valley, supports key SEMI principles including free trade, open markets, intellectual property protection, global cooperation and innovation, said SEMI China president Lung Chu.

Brandon Wang, president and chairman of CASPA, and Lung Chu, SEMI China president, sign strategic cooperation agreement.

Speaking at the event attended by more 200 industry executives and visionaries, Chu noted that with 2019 expected to be another record year for fab and equipment investment and the semiconductor on track to reach $500 billion by next year, the time is ripe for greater cooperation between Silicon Valley and China. China and South Korea (Samsung) are driving sharp growth in global semiconductor equipment sales.

The global artificial intelligence (AI) industry is taking shape with companies ranging from startups and multinationals to semiconductor and Internet providers investing in AI research and development as China and the United States make the heaviest AI investments of all regions. A plethora of AI applications enabled by 5G will spur even greater IC demand.

Opening the event, SEMI president and CEO Ajit Manocha noted that technologies such as AI, Internet of Things (IoT) will transform our lives and that semiconductor industry leaders must cultivate a new generation of innovators to ensure continued industry growth.

Mark Ding, CEO of Shanghai Industrial Technology Research Institute (SITRI), said China is well-positioned to help goose semiconductor industry growth with its ample capital, lower capital expenditures and strong local market. He also noted that three keys to innovation are platforms, talent and capital.

Dr. Naveed Shervani, CEO of SiFive, the first fabless semiconductor company to build customized silicon based on the free and open RISC-V instruction set architecture, proposed goals for future semiconductor industry growth including reducing IC and IP costs and cutting design time.

Stuart Ching, VP of KULR Technology, a provider of thermal management technologies, pointed to the importance of lithium batteries. Those with higher energy density and lower cost would promote a range of power applications for mobile electronic equipment and lead to the mass production of solid-state batteries between 2023 and 2025.

Originally published on the SEMI blog.