Category Archives: Packaging

Today KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ : KLAC ) announced two new defect inspection products designed to address a wide variety of integrated circuit (IC) packaging challenges. The Kronos™ 1080 system offers production-worthy, high sensitivity wafer inspection for advanced packaging, providing key information for process control and material disposition. The ICOS™ F160 system examines packages after wafers have been diced, delivering fast, accurate die sort based on detection of key defect types—including sidewall cracks, a new defect type affecting the yield of high-end packages. The two new inspection systems join KLA-Tencor’s portfolio of defect inspection, metrology and data analysis systems that help accelerate packaging yield and increase die sort accuracy.

KLA-Tencor’s new Kronos™ 1080 wafer inspection system and ICOS™ F160 die sorting and inspection system are designed to address a wide variety of IC packaging challenges.

“As chip scaling has slowed, advances in chip packaging technology have become instrumental in driving device performance,” said Oreste Donzella, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at KLA-Tencor. “Packaged chips need to achieve simultaneous targets for device performance, power consumption, form factor and cost for a variety of device applications. As a result, packaging design has become more diverse and complex, featuring a range of 2D and 3D structures that are more densely packed and shrinking in size with every generation. At the same time, the value of the packaged chip has grown substantially, along with electronics manufacturers’ expectations for quality and reliability. To meet these expectations, packaging manufacturers, whether in the back end of a chip manufacturing fab or in an outsourced assembly and test (OSAT) facility, have demanded more sensitive, cost-effective inspection, metrology and data analysis—and more accurate identification of bad parts. Our engineering teams have developed the new Kronos 1080 and ICOS F160 systems to serve the electronics industry’s growing needs for production-worthy defect detection for a wide variety of packaging types.”

The Kronos 1080 system is designed to inspect advanced wafer-level packaging process steps, providing information on the full range of defect types for inline process control. Advanced packaging technology necessarily includes ever-smaller features, higher-density metal patterns, and multi-layer redistribution layers—all of which have increasing inspection requirements that demand innovative solutions. The Kronos system achieves its industry-leading performance through multi-mode optics and sensors and advanced defect detection algorithms. The Kronos system also introduces FlexPoint™, an advanced technology derived from KLA-Tencor’s leading inspection solutions for IC chip manufacturing. FlexPoint focuses the inspection system on key areas within the die where defects would have highest impact. Flexible wafer handling enables the inspection of high-warp wafers, frequently encountered in a package type called fan-out wafer-level packaging—an established type for mobile applications and an emerging technology for networking and high-performance computing.

After wafer-level packages are tested and diced, the ICOS F160 performs inspection and die sorting. Manufacturers of high-end packages, such as those used for mobile applications, will benefit from new capability to detect laser-groove, hairline and sidewall cracks. These cracks result from a change in the materials used to insulate the dense on-chip metal routing to facilitate increased speed and reduced power consumption. The new material is brittle, making it susceptible to cracks during wafer dicing. Sidewall cracks are notoriously difficult to detect, as they lie perpendicular to the top of the die and are not detectable using traditional visual inspection. Another major advantage of the ICOS F160 system, beneficial to many packaging types, is its flexibility: input and output modes can be wafer, tray or tape. The system is easily changed from one configuration to another. Its automatic calibrations and precision die pickup facilitate increased tool utilization in high volume manufacturing environments.

The Kronos 1080 and ICOS F160 systems are part of KLA-Tencor’s portfolio of packaging solutions designed to address inspection, metrology, data analysis and die sorting needs for a variety of IC packaging types.

The Micron Foundation announced that it will commit $1 million to higher education institutions in Virginia as it invests in the next generation of technicians, scientists and engineers with a focus on women and underrepresented minorities in these fields. The investment will provide grants and funding at select community colleges and universities for several types of programs, organizations and individuals that inspire and enable future innovators.

“Today we are proud to expand our commitment with education partners across Virginia, which share our focus on developing a strong, vibrant and talented workforce,” said Micron Foundation Executive Director Dee Mooney. “These efforts reflect our company’s focus on investing in students and embracing diversity, as well as our long-term commitment to our Manassas facility and its team members. We look forward to working with community and education leaders to identify and support programs that will make a difference for decades to come.”

The $1 million fund will support programs in the area of cleanroom and nanotechnology labs, unmanned and autonomous automotive systems, robotics, big data, embedded systems and networking applications. Faculty members, program directors and student groups from universities and community colleges in the Commonwealth of Virginia will be eligible. With a focus on women and underrepresented minorities, programs that support low income and first-time college student programs will also receive special consideration.

IC Insights forecasts total semiconductor capital expenditures will rise to $102.0 billion this year, marking the first time that the industry has spent more than $100 billion on capital expenditures in one year.  The $102.0 billion spending level represents a 9% increase over $93.3 billion spent in 2017, which was a 38% surge over 2016.

Figure 1 shows that more than half of industry capital spending is forecast for memory production—primarily DRAM and flash memory—including upgrades to existing wafer fab lines and brand new manufacturing facilities. Collectively, memory is forecast to account for 53% of semiconductor capital expenditures this year. The share of capital spending for memory devices has increase substantially in six years, nearly doubling from 27% ($14.7 billion) in 2013 to a forecast of 53% ($54.0 billion) of total industry capex in 2018, which amounts to a 2013-2018 CAGR of 30%.

Figure 1

Of the major product categories shown, DRAM/SRAM is forecast to show the largest increase in spending, but flash memory is expected to account for the largest share of capex spending this year (Figure 2).  Capital spending for the DRAM/SRAM segment is forecast to show a 41% surge in 2018 after a strong 82% increase in 2017.  Capital spending for flash memory is forecast to rise 13% in 2018 after a 91% increase in 2017.

Figure 2

After two years of big increases in capital expenditures, a major question looming is whether high levels of spending will lead to overcapacity and a softening of prices.  Historical precedent in the memory market shows that too much spending usually leads to overcapacity and subsequent pricing weakness.  With Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Intel, Toshiba/Western Digital/SanDisk, and XMC/Yangtze River Storage Technology all planning to significantly ramp up 3D NAND flash capacity over the next couple of years (and new Chinese memory startup companies entering the market), IC Insights believes that the future risk for overshooting 3D NAND flash market demand is high and growing.

Roger Carpenter, a Google hardware engineer with 30 years of experience in electronic design automation and chip design, has been elected to the Silicon Integration Initiative board of directors. Si2 is a research and development joint venture that provides standard interoperability solutions for integrated circuit design tools.

Before joining Google, Carpenter held executive roles at three EDA firms: Magma Design Automation, Javelin Design Automation and Envis. His design experience includes positions at Wave Computing, Broadcom, Chromatic Research and Xilinx. A holder of more than a dozen patents, Carpenter received a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

John Ellis, Si2 president and CEO, said that Google’s membership on the Si2 board reflects the increasing impact of vertical integration in the electronics industry.  “A recent Si2 industry survey showed that over 80 percent of our end users develop some specialized, internal design tools. This proprietary software meets their unique needs and performance requirements,” Ellis said.

“Directly accessing the Si2 OpenAccess data base by making use of our Application Programming Interface, designers and integrators have greater control over their bottom line by optimizing their design flow and, in turn, shortening product time-to-market. It’s critical that system houses like Google, along with their unique semiconductor design software needs, are now represented on the Si2 board.”

The twelve members of the Si2 board represent leading semiconductor manufacturers and foundries, fabless companies, and EDA software providers.

Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: RTEC) today announced its new Dragonfly™ G2 platform, which incorporates many of the benefits of the Firefly™ system onto the Dragonfly platform, including higher sensitivity and throughput and the proprietary Clearfind™ Technology. The new system increases the options for advanced packaging customers to meet their wafer-based application challenges on a single platform. To date, customer evaluations have reported throughput increases greater than 50 percent over the first-generation Dragonfly system. The new Dragonfly G2 systems are scheduled to begin shipment in the latter part of the fourth quarter and will be highlighted at the SEMICON® Taiwan trade show September 5-7 in Rudolph’s booth N686-4F.

The Dragonfly G2 system achieves significant throughput and productivity increases using proprietary camera technology combined with stage speed and accuracy. Additionally, its modular architecture permits plug-and-play configurability of Rudolph’s technologies such as Truebump™ Technology, for more accurate bump height measurement, and Clearfind Technology, for non-visual residue detection. Streamlined software algorithms contribute to the faster throughput and enable the system to handle increasing bump counts, which have already exceeded 80 million bumps per wafer.

“Advanced packaging processes are evolving rapidly, with larger packages, shrinking features, and higher counts of smaller bumps on every wafer, and the Dragonfly G2 system is designed to meet these new challenges,” said Tim Kryman, senior director of corporate marketing at Rudolph Technologies. “At the same time, its increased throughput reduces cost-of-ownership and its configurable modular design lets one system do the work of two. Based on the positive feedback from customers’ beta testing we are expecting strong demand for this latest evolution of our technology. We expect the Dragonfly G2 system to meet our customers’ future inspection needs as increasing demands for higher quality products are driving more data with greater integrity and faster throughput to meet the growing volumes of consumer and auto electronics products.”

“An important driver for Rudolph Technologies is to increase our pace of innovation to ensure we are anticipating our customers’ roadmaps,” added Mike Goodrich, vice president and general manager of Rudolph’s Process Control Group. “We were very pleased to be able to demonstrate that commitment with the release of this Dragonfly G2 system. Not only have we significantly improved throughput and imaging capability, but we have also provided the powerful Clearfind Technology to make a compelling, no compromise, advanced packaging process control system.”

The Dragonfly G2 system can be ordered now with shipments expected to begin in Q4. First-generation Dragonfly systems can be retrofitted on-site with a second-generation upgrade kit.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced an important step in its transformation, continuing the trajectory launched with the appointment of Tom Caulfield as CEO earlier this year. In line with the strategic direction Caulfield has articulated, GF is reshaping its technology portfolio to intensify its focus on delivering truly differentiated offerings for clients in high-growth markets.

GF is realigning its leading-edge FinFET roadmap to serve the next wave of clients that will adopt the technology in the coming years. The company will shift development resources to make its 14/12nm FinFET platform more relevant to these clients, delivering a range of innovative IP and features including RF, embedded memory, low power and more. To support this transition, GF is putting its 7nm FinFET program on hold indefinitely and restructuring its research and development teams to support its enhanced portfolio initiatives. This will require a workforce reduction, however a significant number of top technologists will be redeployed on 14/12nm FinFET derivatives and other differentiated offerings.

“Demand for semiconductors has never been higher, and clients are asking us to play an ever-increasing role in enabling tomorrow’s technology innovations,” Caulfield said. “The vast majority of today’s fabless customers are looking to get more value out of each technology generation to leverage the substantial investments required to design into each technology node. Essentially, these nodes are transitioning to design platforms serving multiple waves of applications, giving each node greater longevity. This industry dynamic has resulted in fewer fabless clients designing into the outer limits of Moore’s Law. We are shifting our resources and focus by doubling down on our investments in differentiated technologies across our entire portfolio that are most relevant to our clients in growing market segments.”

In addition, to better leverage GF’s strong heritage and significant investments in ASIC design and IP, the company is establishing its ASIC business as a wholly-owned subsidiary, independent from the foundry business. A relevant ASIC business requires continued access to leading-edge technology. This independent ASIC entity will provide clients with access to alternative foundry options at 7nm and beyond, while allowing the ASIC business to engage with a broader set of clients, especially the growing number of systems companies that need ASIC capabilities and more manufacturing scale than GF can provide alone.

GF is intensifying investment in areas where it has clear differentiation and adds true value for clients, with an emphasis on delivering feature-rich offerings across its portfolio. This includes continued focus on its FDXTM platform, leading RF offerings (including RF SOI and high-performance SiGe), analog/mixed signal, and other technologies designed for a growing number of applications that require low power, real-time connectivity, and on-board intelligence. GF is uniquely positioned to serve this burgeoning market for “connected intelligence,” with strong demand in new areas such as autonomous driving, IoT and the global transition to 5G.

“Lifting the burden of investing at the leading edge will allow GF to make more targeted investments in technologies that really matter to the majority of chip designers in fast-growing markets such as RF, IoT, 5G, industrial and automotive,” said Samuel Wang, research vice president at Gartner. “While the leading edge gets most of the headlines, fewer customers can afford the transition to 7nm and finer geometries.  14nm and above technologies will continue to be the important demand driver for the foundry business for many years to come. There is significant room for innovation on these nodes to fuel the next wave of technology.”

Watlow, a designer and manufacturer of complete thermal systems, announced that it has acquired Yarbrough Solutions Worldwide of Austin, Texas. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Yarbrough is a semiconductor equipment solutions provider that services semiconductor fabrication companies globally by developing, installing and servicing high-performance solutions at its customer’s fabrication plants. In performing these services, Yarbrough has long relied upon a myriad of Watlow product offerings such as electric heaters, temperature sensors, temperature controllers and power controllers.

“Yarbrough is a known leader in providing innovative thermal system solutions to semiconductor equipment end users,” said Rob Gilmore, vice president and general manager of Watlow’s semiconductor business unit. “Adding Yarbrough’s know-how and expertise to Watlow’s world-class suite of thermal system capabilities enhances our ability to serve customers through the entire semiconductor fabrication process, from the tool to the scrubber, to ensure thermal optimization of the complete system.”

“This acquisition enables both parties to provide even more value to our semiconductor equipment customers,” said Pat Swayze, vice president of Yarbrough. “We are very excited about Watlow’s long-term vision and we look forward to contributing to the company’s future growth.”

A key element of the acquisition is a South Korean joint venture, which enhances Watlow’s presence in the region. This joint venture between Watlow and its partner, Global Standard Technology Co., Ltd., an established semiconductor business, will be named Watlow Pacific Inc.

Watlow has experienced significant recent growth and aspires to be the share leader in all of its core markets. According to Peter Desloge, Watlow’s president, chief executive officer and chairman, “Watlow is committed to the success of its customers through product and technology leadership, and this is one of the many reasons why the world’s leading companies begin with Watlow for their thermal needs. The Yarbrough acquisition is a continuation of Watlow’s strategy to combine organic investments and acquisitions to achieve consistent, sustainable long-term growth. This acquisition enhances our thermal control capabilities and our ability to create value and deliver a competitive advantage to our customers. We are very excited to welcome Yarbrough to the Watlow team.”

By Christopher Morales, Head of Security Analytics, Vectra

On August 3, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), the largest chip fabricator globally introduced a WannaCry Ransomware cryptowormvariant onto its information technology/operational technology (IT/OT) networks. A TSMC supplier installed infected software on a new fabrication tool and connected it to the network, facilitating the malware infestation.

The infection spread quickly, taking out 10,000+ unpatched Windows 7 machines that run the chip fab company’s tool automation interface. The crypto worm crashed and rebooted systems endlessly, forcing several plants in Taichung, Hsinchu andTainan to shut down through much of the weekend.

The infection crippled materials handling systems and production equipment as well as Windows 7 computers. Some of the plants were producing SoC chips for the AppleiPhone 8 and X models. The incident’s connection to Apple and the iPhone heightened its visibility in the news media.

According to TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, patching for the Windows 7 machines requires computer downtime and collaboration with equipment suppliers. The absence of currentpatches created an environment where WannaCry could easily propagate.

The 2018 Spotlight Report on Manufacturing published by Vectra a few weeks before the incident foretold TSMC’s infection, which could cost the company as much as $255 million.

Smart manufacturer cybersecurity risks are increasing

According to the TSMC website, the company had “introduced new applications such as IoT, intelligent mobile devices and mobile robots to consolidate data collection, yield traceability, workflow efficiency, and material transportation to continuously enhance fab operation efficiency.” Further, TSMC had “integrated automatic manufacturing systems,” according to its website.

These innovations are typical in the evolution of Industry 4.0, which has increased the risk of cyber attacks against manufacturers.

But as manufacturers moved from air-gapped industrial systems to cloud-connectedsystems as part of the IT/OT convergence – using unpartitioned networks and insufficient access controls for proliferating IIoT devices – they created a massive, vulnerable attack surface, according to the Vectra report.

While air-gapped systems such as industrial controls have no connections by design to guard against malicious tampering, IT/OT convergence has connected these systems to information technologynetworks with little accounting for security vulnerabilities.

Many factories connect IIoT devices to flat, unpartitioned networks that rely on communication with general computing devices and enterprise applications. Since IIoT devices support few if any native cybersecurity measures, connecting them to easily infected applications, computers and unsegregated IP networks only invites trouble.

In the past, manufacturers relied on more customized, proprietary protocols, which made mounting an attack more difficult for cybercriminals. The conversion from proprietary protocols to standard protocols makes it easier to infiltrate networks to spy, spread and steal.

Few if any cyberattackers know and understand the proprietary protocols those closed legacy systems used. But it’s easy for most criminal hackers and their exploits to access standard IP network protocols just as WannaCry abuses the SMB protocol where there is no patch.

Real-time network visibility is crucial 

Industry 4.0 brings with it a new operational risk for connected, smart manufacturers and digital supply networks. The interconnected nature of Industry 4.0-driven operations and the pace of digital transformation mean that cyber attacks can have far more damaging effects than ever before, and manufacturers and their supply networks may not be preparedfor the risks.

Wherever cyber attacks interfere business continuity for business and information processes, they can also disrupt operational technologies that render products and get them out the door.

For cyber-risk to be adequately addressedin the age of Industry 4.0, manufacturing organizations need to ensure that proper visibility and response capabilities are in place to detect and respond to events as they occur. As in the case of the TSMC ransomware debacle, anything less than real-time detection and response is too little, too late to avoid production downtime.

There is no visibility into these systems to enable real-time detection before cyber attacks spread. Visibility into these internal connected systems is necessary to curtail the extent of damage from a cyberattack.

Manufacturing security operations now require automated, real-time analysis of entire networks to proactively detect and respond to in-progress threats before they do damage.

The Vectra 2018 Spotlight Report on Manufacturing

The 2018 Spotlight Report on Manufacturing delineates the many attack types and behaviors that the Cognito platform captured. The Cognito threat-detection and hunting platform monitored traffic and collected rich metadata from more than 4million devices and workloads from customer cloud, data center, and enterprise environmentsto reveal the cyberattacker behaviors.

Cyber attacks on manufacturers increased in severity from January to June 2018 based on data that the Vectra Cognito platform collected. The Vectra report confirms that all manufacturing industries are at equal risk of cyberattacks.

To learn about other findings pertinent to your Industry 4.0 cybersecurity risk, download the 2018 Spotlight Report on Manufacturing.

Christopher Morales is the head of security analytics at Vectra, a San Jose, Calif. cybersecurity firm that detects hidden cyberattacks and helps threat hunters improve the efficiency of incident investigations.

The 35 must-watch technologies represented on the Gartner Inc. Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2018 revealed five distinct emerging technology trends that will blur the lines between humans and machines. Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), play a critical role in enabling companies to be ubiquitous, always available, and connected to business ecosystems to survive in the near future.

“Business and technology leaders will continue to face rapidly accelerating technology innovation that will profoundly impact the way they engage with their workforce, collaborate with their partners, and create products and services for their customers,” said Mike J. Walker, research vice president at Gartner. “CIOs and technology leaders should always be scanning the market along with assessing and piloting emerging technologies to identify new business opportunities with high impact potential and strategic relevance for their business.”

The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies report is the longest-running annual Gartner Hype Cycle, providing a cross-industry perspective on the technologies and trends that business strategists, chief innovation officers, R&D leaders, entrepreneurs, global market developers and emerging-technology teams should consider in developing emerging-technology portfolios.

The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies is unique among most Gartner Hype Cycles because it garners insights from more than 2,000 technologies into a succinct set of 35 emerging technologies and trends. This Hype Cycle specifically focuses on the set of technologies that is showing promise in delivering a high degree of competitive advantage over the next five to 10 years (see Figure 1).

Source: Gartner (August 2018)

Five Emerging Technology Trends

Democratized AI

AI technologies will be virtually everywhere over the next 10 years. While these technologies enable early adopters to adapt to new situations and solve problems that have not been encountered previously, these technologies will become available to the masses — democratized. Movements and trends like cloud computing, the “maker” community and open source will eventually propel AI into everyone’s hands.

This trend is enabled by the following technologies: AI Platform as a Service (PaaS), Artificial General Intelligence, Autonomous Driving (Levels 4 and 5), Autonomous Mobile Robots, Conversational AI Platform, Deep Neural Nets, Flying Autonomous Vehicles, Smart Robots, and Virtual Assistants.

“Technologies representing democratized AI populate three out of five sections on the Hype Cycle, and some of them, such as deep neural nets and virtual assistants, will reach mainstream adoption in the next two to five years,” said Mr. Walker. “Other emerging technologies of that category, such as smart robots or AI PaaS, are also moving rapidly through the Hype Cycle approaching the peak and will soon have crossed it.”

Digitalized Ecosystems

Emerging technologies require revolutionizing the enabling foundations that provide the volume of data needed, advanced compute power and ubiquity-enabling ecosystems. The shift from compartmentalized technical infrastructure to ecosystem-enabling platforms is laying the foundations for entirely new business models that are forming the bridge between humans and technology.

This trend is enabled by the following technologies: Blockchain, Blockchain for Data Security, Digital Twin, IoT Platform and Knowledge Graphs.

“Digitalized ecosystem technologies are making their way to the Hype Cycle fast,” said Walker. “Blockchain and IoT platforms have crossed the peak by now, and we believe that they will reach maturity in the next five to 10 years, with digital twins and knowledge graphs on their heels.”

Do-It-Yourself Biohacking

Over the next decade, humanity will begin its “transhuman” era: Biology can then be hacked, depending on lifestyle, interests and health needs. Biohacking falls into four categories: technology augmentation, nutrigenomics, experimental biology and grinder biohacking. However, questions remain about how far society is prepared to accept these kinds of applications and what ethical issues they create.

This trend is enabled by the following technologies: Biochips, Biotech — Cultured or Artificial Tissue, Brain-Computer Interface, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Smart Fabrics.

Emerging technologies in do-it-yourself biohacking are moving rapidly through the Hype Cycle. Mixed reality is making its way to the Trough of Disillusionment, and augmented reality almost reached the bottom. Those pioneers will be followed by biochips, which have just reached the peak and will have moved on to the plateau in five to 10 years.

Transparently Immersive Experiences

Technology will continue to become more human-centric to the point where it will introduce transparency between people, businesses and things. These technologies extend and enable smarter living, work, and other spaces we encounter.

This trend is enabled by the following technologies: 4D Printing, Connected Home, Edge AI, Self-Healing System Technology, Silicon Anode Batteries, Smart Dust, Smart Workspace and Volumetric Displays.

“Emerging technologies representing transparently immersive experiences are mostly on their way to the peak or — in the case of silicon anode batteries — just crossed it,” said Mr. Walker. “The smart workspace has moved along quite a bit and is about to peak in the near future.”

Ubiquitous Infrastructure

Infrastructure is no longer in the way of obtaining an organization’s goals. The advent and mass popularity of cloud computing and its many variations have enabled an always-on, available and limitless infrastructure compute environment.

This trend is enabled by the following technologies: 5G, Carbon Nanotube, Deep Neural Network ASICs, Neuromorphic Hardware and Quantum Computing.

Technologies supporting ubiquitous infrastructure are on track to reach the peak and move fast along the Hype Cycle. 5G and deep neural network ASICs, in particular, are expected to reach the plateau in the next two to five years.

Gartner clients can read more in the report “Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2018.” This research is part of the Gartner Trend Insight Report, “2018 Hype Cycles: Riding the Innovation Wave”. With profiles of technologies, services and disciplines spanning over 100 Hype Cycles, this Trend Insight Report is designed to help CIOs and IT leaders respond to the opportunities and threats affecting their businesses, take the lead in technology-enabled business innovations and help their organizations define an effective digital business strategy.

Additional analysis on emerging technologies will be presented during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, the world’s most important gathering of CIOs and other senior IT executives. IT executives rely on these events to gain insight into how their organizations can use IT to overcome business challenges and improve operational efficiency. Follow news and updates from the events on Twitter using #GartnerSYM.

Upcoming dates and locations for Gartner Symposium/ITxpo include:

17-20 September 2018: Cape Town, South Africa

14-18 October 2018: Orlando, Florida

22-25 October 2018: Sao Paulo, Brazil

29 October-1 November 2018: Gold Coast, Australia

4-8 November 2018: Barcelona, Spain

12-14 November 2018: Tokyo, Japan

13-16 November 2018: Goa, India

4-6 March 2019: Dubai, UAE

3-6 June 2019: Toronto, Canada

Immersion Corp. (Nasdaq: IMMR), a developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, today announced that Tom Lacey will become the company’s Interim Chief Executive Officer and the newest addition to the Immersion Board of Directors, effective immediately. Lacey succeeds Carl Schlachte, the company’s prior Interim CEO, who is resigning as a director of Immersion.

Lead independent director Sharon Holt has been named Chairman of the Immersion Board.

“We are delighted to have Tom Lacey join us as Interim CEO and a member of the Immersion board,” said Ms. Holt. “Tom is a world class executive who brings a wealth of experience and talent during this important time for Immersion. We are confident that Tom’s leadership and industry expertise will serve Immersion well during his time as Interim CEO as well as during his ongoing service on our Board of Directors. The board looks forward to expeditiously completing the process of hiring a permanent CEO.”

Tom Lacey, the Interim Chief Executive Officer and new Immersion board member, said, “I have gotten to know Immersion well, and I am thrilled to join as both Interim CEO and as a member of the board. I am looking forward to working with the employees, management, customers and board of Immersion to help capitalize on the opportunities ahead.”

With 30 years of experience in the industry, Lacey has a proven track record of successfully leading a diverse group of technology companies.

From May 2013 to June 2017, Lacey served as Chief Executive Officer and a director of Xperi Corporation (formerly Tessera; Nasdaq: XPER), a technology licensor in mobile computing and communications, memory and data storage, and 3-D integrated circuit technologies. He also currently serves as a director of DSP Group (Nasdaq: DSPG). Prior to these roles, he held a number of senior leadership positions at Components Direct, Phoenix Technologies Ltd., Applied Materials, Inc., Flextronics International, and International Display Works. Prior to that, Lacey held various management and executive positions at Intel Corporation for 13 years, including Vice President Sales and Marketing, President of Intel Americas, and Vice President and General Manager, Flash Products.