Category Archives: Metrology

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $2.17 billion in billings worldwide in April 2017 (three-month average basis), according to the April 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 April 2017 was $2.17 billion. The billings figure is 4.6 percent higher than the final March 2017 level of $2.08 billion, and is 48.9 percent higher than the April 2016 billings level of $1.46 billion.

“Semiconductor equipment billings levels exceed two billion dollars for the second month in a row,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI.  “Solid market fundamentals, coupled with strong demand for memory for data storage and processors for smartphones, are fueling significant investments.”

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
November 2016
$1,613.3
25.2%
December 2016
$1,869.8
38.5%
January 2017
$1,859.4
52.3%
February 2017
$1,974.0
63.9%
March 2017 (final)
$2,079.7
73.7%
April 2017 (prelim)
$2,174.5
48.9%

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), May 2017
SEMI ceased publishing the monthly North America Book-to-Bill report in January 2017. SEMI will continue publish a monthly North American Billings report and issue the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) report in collaboration with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

SEMI today announced its plans to deliver specialized programs at SEMICON West 2017 (July 11-13 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif.) in partnership with IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE), and imec. The programs will focus on key growth and innovation drivers for the industry, including advances in semiconductor scaling, autonomous motoring, and IoT (Internet of Things).  Register for SEMICON West now.

In recent years, IoT devices and applications have seen explosive growth, as have the microcontrollers, MEMS, sensors, and actuators underpinning IoT device architecture. In conjunction with IEEE, SEMI will offer two World of IoT sessions focusing on Understanding Risks and Opportunities in Transformative Technologies (the future of advanced IoT device architectures and emerging applications):

The sessions will feature presentations from: Ramesh Ramadoss,  IEEE Santa Clara Valley Section (Calif.); Ryan O’Leary, Threat Research Center at WhiteHat Security;  Phil Hummel, Dell EMC;  Todd Miller, General Electric Global Research; and Oleg Logvinov, IEEE Internet Initiative and IoTecha Corp.  Maciej Kranz, Cisco’s VP of Strategic Innovations, and author of the New York Times bestseller Building the Internet of Things, will also present.

On the automotive front, SEMI has partnered with SAE International to create two dynamic SMART Automotive sessions:

SMART Automotive attendees will get an insider’s view from Timothy Cavanaugh of SAE International, Luca De Ambroggi of IHS Markit, and key influencers from Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Mentor Graphics, and Continental Automotive Systems.

SEMI maintains a long-standing partnership with imec, a nanoelectronics research institute and organizer of an annual conference on emerging opportunities in semiconductor technology and smart electronics systems. This year’s event — Semiconductor and System Scaling Beyond Tomorrow — will be held July 10 in San Francisco, and feature a presentation from Dave Anderson, president, SEMI Americas, plus presentations from Luc Van den Hove, president and CEO, imec; An Steegen, SVP, imec; and Martin van den Brink, president and CTO, ASML.

In addition, recognizing the growing need for training and education, IEEE will be hosting a training workshop “Introduction to Embedded Systems/IoT Development“ for $149. Instructor Rob Oshana of Freescale will share practical techniques and guidelines for developing embedded system software.

By Lung Chu, President of SEMI China

Lung250As China embarks on the Made in China 2025 plan with electronics and semiconductor technology as one of the Top 10 focus areas, China’s semiconductor industry has an unprecedented growth opportunity.  However, besides the huge investment required, China IC industry is faced with strong competition in terms of technology, products, talent, and supply chain access from many leading global layers in an increasingly interconnected world and a highly global semiconductor market.

To be successful, it is critical that China’s semiconductor industry speed up its integration into the global industry supply chain. The goal is to achieve sustainable growth through “win-win” collaboration with global partners and leveraging industry platforms to become a significant player and partner in the international semiconductor manufacturing industry ecosystem.

China semiconductor industry growth

In recent years, many new 12-inch fab projects have been announced, started construction, or in ramp-up stage in China, including UMC in Xiamen, PSC in Hefei, TSMC in Nanjing, YMTC in Wuhan and Nanjing, as well as GLOBALFOUNDRIES in Chengdu.  Many China-based foundries are adding 12-inch capacity including SMIC fabs in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, and HLMC in Shanghai area. The production capacity of these ~20 new fabs is expected to come online in the next three to five years.

SEMI has seen active interest in several local cities in attracting global and China-based companies to set up semiconductor fabrication facilities.  The strong trend for expansion and investment shows no signs of slowdown in China. The current investment fever in semiconductors in China is a balancing act ─ it will lead both to the development of a regional industry supply chain and the demand for capital investment in China. However, as with any expansion bubble, new production capacity in some mature nodes might create overcapacity and raises questions of sustainability paired with the severe shortage of skilled workers/engineers and uncertainty of future fund availability for continuing operations and investment.

Rise of China

China’s expansion in semiconductor manufacturing should be viewed through a global context.  SEMI advocates for free trade and open markets, international cooperation for intellectual property (IP) rights protection, industry Standards, and environmental protection. SEMI promotes the global electronics manufacturing supply chain and works to positively influence the growth and prosperity of its members.

In 2016, before stepping down, the U.S. Obama administration delivered a report from the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Part of the report addressed the rise of China’s semiconductor industry and recommended the United States should improve its environment for development of the semiconductor and high-tech industry and continue to invest in advanced technologies.

Each country will evaluate their own course as the China market expands. However, the rise of the semiconductor industry in China need not be viewed simply as a threat to the world; instead, it is a significant growth driver and business opportunity for global suppliers.  IC chips top the list of all Chinese bulk imports in terms of dollar value. China desires to develop its IC chip industry to better fulfill its inherent demand. China currently has low market share and limited technical capability in four major areas identified in the China National IC Development Guideline: IC design, manufacturing, package/testing, and equipment/material.

China is clear about its intentions with regard to growing its own semiconductor supply chain. In the short term, heavy dependency on foreign suppliers (especially equipment and material) is inevitable.  Going forward, cooperation with foreign semiconductor suppliers/partners with an open-minded and “win-win” attitude is an imperative strategy in solving the development bottleneck issues concerning equipment/materials and other key areas in China’s semiconductor industry.

SEMI China focuses on member value

China is the world’s largest manufacturing base for electronics products, as well as the world’s largest market for demand of IC chips. Now, as China’s semiconductor industry experiences a transformation in development, SEMI China is working to provide more value to its local and global members as the industry is rapidly changing. SEMI China promotes Chinese enterprises for industry growth and prosperity, and helps outstanding local companies advance in the international market. SEMI China is also using its global, specialized, and localized industry association platform to promote the development of the semiconductor industry in China.

SEMI China has 11 industry committees and is committed to SEMI global values and the China region. All the SEMI China committees have the strong connections needed to communicate and collaborate not only with China’s semiconductor industry, but with the global ecosystem.

SEMI, the global trade association that advances the growth and prosperity of electronics manufacturing, was the world’s first semiconductor industry group, established in 1970. It has witnessed the flourishing development of the semiconductor industry over the last 47 years and continues to be devoted to promoting the healthy development of the industry. SEMI is keeping pace with the industry and offering specialized and global platform services to the entire industry ecosystem. In the last two years, SEMI became a strategic partner with both FlexTech Alliance and the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG). In the future, SEMI is also providing association services for the Fab Owner Association (FOA) to continue expanding collaboration along the electronics manufacturing supply chain. The intent is to include a wider span of the interdependent electronics manufacturing supply chain and the key adjacent opportunities that drive global growth opportunities.

SEMICON China is an industry event platform organized in partnership with major chip manufacturers, packaging and testing companies in China, and suppliers of equipment and materials worldwide. The world’s leaders come to discuss global industry trends, cutting-edge technologies and market opportunities on the same stage, as well as the development of global and Chinese semiconductor industries. This year, the importance of SEMICON China was validated ─ with over 69,000 attendees and a record number of exhibitors ─ the largest SEMICON show ever.

Global competition in semiconductor manufacturing has long been a part of the environment with growth starting in the U.S. and spreading to Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and China. Global competition has resulted in new innovations and a global march to the demanding cadence of Moore’s Law. Compared to other countries, China’s semiconductor industry is relatively weak and the barriers to entry for leading-node production remain challenging. Despite this, China is moving forward ─ with a focus to increase domestic semiconductor chip demand. The Chinese M&A wave is another growth driver for the industry. I hope that going forward we can all embrace the industry’s growth, and not fear China’s advancement.

 

Lam Research Corp. (Nasdaq:LRCX), an advanced manufacturer of semiconductor equipment, today announced that Dr. Young Bum Koh has joined the company’s board of directors effective as of May 10, 2017. Dr. Koh held many executive positions at Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd in South Korea.  Prior to his most recent position as Advisor until December 2016, he served from December 2011 to December 2013 as Executive Vice President, Head of the Mechatronics R&D Center; from January 2010 to July 2011 as Executive Vice President, Head of the Manufacturing Operation Center, LCD Business; and from January 2004 to June 2007 as Senior Vice President, Head of Manufacturing Technology Center, Memory Business.  Dr. Koh also served as Executive Vice President and President of Samsung Austin Semiconductor LLC located in Texas from August 2007 to December 2009.

“We are honored to welcome Dr. Koh as a Director of Lam Research,” said Stephen G. Newberry, chairman of Lam Research. “Dr. Koh brings to the Lam Research board substantial high technology operations knowledge and expertise built over the course of his distinguished career. His intimate understanding of the semiconductor industry paired with his international leadership experience in research, development and manufacturing will be a tremendous asset in our boardroom.”

Lam Research Corp. (Nasdaq:LRCX) is a global supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry.

Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $343.5 billion in 2016, a 2.6 percent increase from 2015 revenue of $334.9 billion, according to final results by Gartner, Inc. The top 25 semiconductor vendors’ combined revenue increased 10.5 percent, a significantly better performance than the overall industry’s growth; however, most of this growth resulted from merger and acquisition (M&A) activity.

“The semiconductor industry rebounded in 2016, with a weak start to the year, characterized by inventory correction, giving way to strengthening demand and an improving pricing environment in the second half,” said James Hines research director at Gartner. “Worldwide semiconductor revenue growth was supported by increasing production in many electronic equipment segments, improving NAND flash memory pricing and relatively benign currency movements.”

Intel retained its No. 1 position as the largest semiconductor manufacturer and grew its semiconductor revenue 4.6 percent in 2016 (see Table 1). Samsung Electronics continued to maintain the No. 2 spot with 11.7 percent market share.

Table 1. Top 10 Semiconductor Vendors by Revenue, Worldwide, 2016 (Millions of Dollars)

2015 Rank

2016 Rank

Vendor

2016 Revenue

2016
Market Share (%)

2015 Revenue

2015-2016 Growth (%)

1

1

Intel

54,091

15.7

51,690

4.6

2

2

Samsung Electronics

40,104

11.7

37,852

5.9

4

3

Qualcomm

15,415

4.5

16,079

-4.1

3

4

SK hynix

14,700

4.3

16,374

-10.2

17

5

Broadcom Ltd. (formerly Avago)

13,223

3.8

4,543

191.1

5

6

Micron Technology

12,950

3.8

13,816

-6.3

6

7

Texas Instruments

11,901

3.5

11,635

2.3

7

8

Toshiba

9,918

2.9

9,162

8.3

12

9

NXP Semiconductors

9,306

2.7

6,517

42.8

10

10

Media Tek

8,725

2.5

6,704

30.1

Others

153,181

44.6

160,562

-4.6

Total Market

343,514

100.0

334,934

2.6

Source: Gartner (May 2017)

Consolidation continued to play a major role in the market share rankings, with several large companies growing through acquisitions. Merger and acquisition activity among the major vendors in 2016 included Avago Technologies’ acquisition of Broadcom Corp. to become Broadcom Ltd., On Semiconductor’s acquisition of Fairchild Semiconductor, and Western Digital’s acquisition of SanDisk. The largest mover in the top 25 was Broadcom Ltd., which moved up 12 places in the market share ranking.

“The combined revenue of the top 25 semiconductor vendors increased by 10.5 percent during 2016 and accounted for a 74.9 percent share, outperforming the rest of the market, which saw a 15.6 percent revenue decline,” said Mr. Hines. “However, these results are skewed by the large amount of M&A activity during 2015 and 2016. If we adjust for this M&A activity by adding the revenue of each acquired company to the revenue of the acquirer for both 2015 and 2016 where necessary, then the top 25 vendors would have experienced a 1.9 percent revenue increase, and the rest of the market would have increased by 4.6 percent.”

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (“SMIC”; NYSE:  SMI; SEHK: 0981.HK), China’s largest and most advanced semiconductor foundry, today announces the appointment of Dr. Haijun Zhao as CEO replacing Dr. Tzu-Yin Chiu, who will continue to serve as Vice Chairman and Non-Executive Director of the Board and guide the Company’s future strategic direction. In addition, Dr. Chiu will serve as a full-time advisor until June 30, 2017, working closely with Dr. Zhao to ensure a seamless transition of leadership responsibilities.

Dr. Zhao joined SMIC in October 2010 and has moved quickly through the company’s ranks. In April, 2013, he became Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer. In July, 2013, he also assumed the role of General Manager of SMNC, SMIC’s joint venture in Beijing. Dr. Zhao received his B.S. and Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He has more than 25 years of experience in semiconductor operations and technology development.

Dr. Zhou Zixue, Chairman of the Board said, “We are pleased to have Dr. Zhao, as nominated by Dr. Chiu, as the Company’s new CEO, to lead the Company forward. Also, I want to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Chiu for his invaluable contributions to the Company. Dr. Chiu, in the past six years, has done an incredible job of turning around the Company, regaining the confidence of our stakeholders, and repositioning the Company as a leading player in the global foundry industry.  Due to personal family reasons, he has decided to step down at this time. SMIC will remain a global, professional and independent company. With the solid management team which Dr. Chiu has already put in place at SMIC, I am fully confident of the Company’s future prospects.”

“It has been an honor to lead the team to transform SMIC over these past years,” said Dr. Tzu-Yin Chiu. “The Board and I are confident that now is the right time to transition leadership responsibility, and Haijun is the right leader for SMIC’s next chapter of growth. Since joining SMIC seven years ago, Haijun has been an invaluable leader and was a part of the executive team which brought about the transformation in these past few years. SMIC benefits from an outstanding management team with a diverse range of experienced leaders and thousands of dedicated employees. I would like to thank the Board and my SMIC colleagues for their support. I will continue to serve the Company as Vice-Chairman and Non-Executive Director on the Board and contribute to its continued growth and success.”

Dr. Haijun Zhao, SMIC CEO said, “I am greatly honored to have the opportunity to lead the SMIC team at this exciting moment in our history. I would like to thank Dr. Chiu for his guidance and mentorship, as well as the Board for their trust. I look forward to working with the Board and the management team as we continue to enhance our competitive position in the foundry markets.  As a global and independent foundry player, we are committed to deliver results benefitting our shareholders, customers and employees.”

UnitySC, a developer of advanced inspection and metrology solutions, today announced multiple orders from a leading integrated device manufacturer (IDM) for its modular 4See Series automated defect inspection platform. The systems were selected because they deliver optimal wafer backside surface and edge defect inspection, post thinning and metallization. The 4See Series will be used for automotive applications by a market leader in power semiconductor manufacturing to improve the reliability and performance of its products.

“Being selected by a market leader validates the strength of our solutions and confirms our strategy to address new markets with our advanced process control solutions,” said Gilles Fresquet, CEO, UnitySC. “This win expands our reach beyond the traditional substrate control market to include wafer thinning for power semiconductors.”

IHS Markit predicts USD $3 billion in global market growth for the power semiconductors used in cars and light passenger vehicles, over the next six years. Increasing electronic content is a key driver, particularly in hybrid and electric cars, due to consumer demand for constant connectivity. The automotive industry’s push to deliver autonomous, green vehicles in the next decade is also driving growth. These technologies rely on the latest power semiconductor devices, enabled by advanced wafer manufacturing processes like wafer thinning.

“As the wafers used in power semiconductor manufacturing become thinner, controlling wafer quality through the backside thinning and metallization process steps becomes more critical to end-device performance and reliability,” noted Fresquet. “For years, manufacturers have considered our Deflector module be the best-in-class solution for silicon and silicon-on-insulator wafer slip line detection. Combined with the Edge module, this 4See Series configuration delivers industry-leading inspection capabilities that meet semiconductor market needs.”

UnitySC’s new 4See Series for all-surface inspection of semiconductor wafers is a modular system with up to three module offerings: Deflector, Edge and LineScan. The platform can be configured according to application needs, such as wafer thinning, µbumping, MEMS, and more, and can include any number of the modules in desired configurations.

  • Based on phase shift deflectometry technology, the Deflector module is a wafer surface inspection solution that achieves high throughput and very high vertical sensitivity in the nanometer range. It can detect slip lines, grinding marks, failures, cracks, comets, embedded particles, residue, and stains. The Deflector module is well suited to frontside and backside inspection, even under highly warped conditions.
  • The Edge module is a high throughput and versatile solution based on confocal chromatic technology, which is used to inspect the full wafer edge: top, top bevel, apex, bottom bevel and bottom. It has a high depth of focus and does not require a backside contact chuck.

Combining the Deflector and Edge modules in one system offers full wafer characterization compliant with 8″ or 12” wafer high-volume manufacturing requirements. The 4See Series is scheduled to ship in Q3 2017 to fab locations around the world.

IC Insights will release its May Update to the 2017 McClean Report later this month.  This Update includes a discussion of the 1Q17 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 1Q17 semiconductor suppliers (the top-10 1Q17 semiconductor suppliers are covered in this research bulletin).

The top-10 worldwide semiconductor (IC and O S D—optoelectronic, sensor, and discrete) sales ranking for 1Q17 is shown in Figure 1.  It includes four suppliers headquartered in the U.S., two in Europe, two in South Korea, and one each in Singapore and Japan.  In total, the top-10 semiconductor suppliers represented 56% of the 1Q17 worldwide semiconductor market of $99.6 billion (2Q17 is forecast to be the first ever quarterly semiconductor market to exceed $100 billion).

Figure 1

Figure 1

Intel held a slim 4% lead over Samsung for the number one position in 1Q17.  However, as reported in an earlier IC Insights’ Research Bulletin, Samsung is on pace to displace Intel as the world’s largest semiconductor supplier in 2Q17. Memory giants SK Hynix and Micron made the biggest moves in the 1Q17 ranking as compared to the full-year 2016 ranking.  Spurred by the recent surge in the DRAM and NAND flash markets, each company moved up two spots in the top-10 ranking with SK Hynix now occupying the third position and Micron moving up to fourth.

There was one new entrant into the top-10 ranking in 1Q17—Germany-headquartered Infineon.  The company’s 1Q17/1Q16 sales increase was 6%.  Infineon replaced fabless supplier MediaTek, whose 1Q17/1Q16 sales were up by 7% to $1.8 billion but the company suffered a sequential 1Q17/4Q16 sales decline of 17%.  Half of the top-10 companies had sales of at least $4.0 billion in 1Q17.  As shown, it took $1.9 billion in quarterly sales just to make it into the 1Q17 top-10 semiconductor supplier list.

As would be expected, given the possible acquisitions and mergers that could/will occur this year (e.g., Qualcomm/NXP), as well as any new ones that may develop, the top-10 semiconductor ranking is likely to undergo some significant changes over the next few years as the semiconductor industry continues along its path to maturity.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $30.9 billion for the month of March 2017, an increase of 18.1 percent compared to the March 2016 total of $26.2 billion and 1.6 percent more than the February 2017 total of $30.4 billion. Sales from the first quarter of 2017 were $92.6 billion, up 18.1 percent compared to the first quarter of 2016 but down 0.4 percent compared to the last quarter of 2016. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

“Global semiconductor sales saw solid sales growth in March, increasing sharply compared to last year and more modestly compared to last month,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Global sales are up 18 percent compared to last year, the largest increase since October 2010, with all major regional markets posting double-digit year-to-year growth. All major semiconductor product categories also experienced year-to-year growth, with memory products continuing to lead the way.”

Year-to-year sales increased across all regions: China (26.7 percent), the Americas (21.9 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (11.9 percent), Europe (11.1 percent), and Japan (10.7 percent). Month-to-month sales increased in Europe (5.0 percent), Japan (3.6 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (2.9 percent), and China (0.2 percent), but decreased slightly in the Americas (-0.5 percent).

March 2017

Billions

Month-to-Month Sales                               

Market

Last Month

Current Month

% Change

Americas

5.99

5.96

-0.5%

Europe

2.82

2.96

5.0%

Japan

2.77

2.87

3.6%

China

10.05

10.07

0.2%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.77

9.02

2.9%

Total

30.39

30.88

1.6%

Year-to-Year Sales                          

Market

Last Year

Current Month

% Change

Americas

4.89

5.96

21.9%

Europe

2.67

2.96

11.1%

Japan

2.59

2.87

10.7%

China

7.95

10.07

26.7%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.05

9.02

11.9%

Total

26.15

30.88

18.1%

Three-Month-Moving Average Sales

Market

Oct/Nov/Dec

Jan/Feb/Mar

% Change

Americas

6.33

5.96

-5.8%

Europe

2.80

2.96

5.6%

Japan

2.84

2.87

0.9%

China

10.17

10.07

-0.9%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.86

9.02

1.7%

Total

31.01

30.88

-0.4%

After nearly a quarter of a century, the semiconductor industry could see a new #1 supplier in 2Q17. If memory market prices continue to hold or increase through 2Q17 and the balance of this year, Samsung could charge into the top spot and displace Intel, which has held the #1 ranking since 1993. Using the mid range sales guidance set by Intel for 2Q17, and a modest, yet typical, 2Q sales increase of 7.5% for Samsung, the South Korean supplier would unseat Intel as the world’s leading semiconductor supplier in 2Q17 (Figure 1).  If achieved, this would mark a milestone achievement not only for Samsung, specifically, but for all other competing semiconductor producers who have tried for years to supplant Intel as the world’s largest supplier.  In 1Q16, Intel’s sales were 40% greater than Samsung’s, but in just over a year’s time, that lead may be erased and Intel may find itself trailing in quarterly sales.

samsung 1

Samsung’s big increase in sales has been driven by an amazing rise in DRAM and NAND flash average selling prices (Figure 2).  IC Insights expects that the tremendous gains in DRAM and NAND flash pricing experienced through 2016 and into the first quarter of 2017 will begin to cool in the second half of the year, but there remains solid upside potential to IC Insights’ current forecast of 39% growth for the 2017 DRAM market and 25% growth in the NAND flash market.

samsung 2

As shown in Figure 3, Intel has been locked in as the world’s top semiconductor manufacturer since 1993 when it introduced its x486 processor and soon thereafter, its revolutionary Pentium processor, which sent sales of personal computers soaring to new heights.

samsung 3

Over the past 24 years, some companies have narrowed the sales gap between themselves and Intel, but never have they surpassed the MPU giant.  If memory prices don’t tank in the second half of this year, it’s quite possible that Samsung could displace Intel in full-year semiconductor sales results as well.  Presently, both companies are headed for about $60.0 billion in 2017 semiconductor sales.