Category Archives: Top Story Right

January 23, 2012 — Intel had a record 2011, and plans high semiconductor capital expeditures in 2012 ($12.5 billion). Samsung plans a record spend in 2012 ($12.2 billion for semiconductor capex). There is, and will be, wide and growing separation between these two companies and their competition, says IC Insights.

For Samsung, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), and TSMC (NYSE:TSM), the time has come to "put the hammer down" and position themselves as the strongest and most dominant IC suppliers in the industry. Also read: Intel pushes Samsung back for 2011 semiconductor market lead

Both Intel and Samsung will more than double the 2012 capex spending of foundry TSMC ($6.0 billion in 2012 capex). These 3 companies will account for about half of the total semiconductor capex spending in 2012: $30.7 billion between them, nearly 3x as much as they spent collectively in 2009. SEMI predicts semiconductor fab equipment spending will be $35 billion in 2012, according to preliminary data from the SEMI World Fab Forecast report.

In fact, the disparity is getting so large that these three are likely to become completely dominant in their areas of specialization, if they are not already there. Smaller competitors will soon find it extremely challenging (impossible, in many cases) to remain competitive against these powerhouse companies when it comes to developing new products or competing on a cost basis. Weaker suppliers will be forced out of the business and a higher percentage of capex spending will be in the hands of the fewer remaining players.

This isn’t neccessarily a new trend: In 2010, TSMC doubled its capex from 2009, and Samsung tripled their number. In 2011, Intel doubled its capex year-over-year.

Figure 1. Top 3 semiconductor capex spenders 2009-2012F. SOURCE: IC Insights, Company Reports.
2012F rank Company 2009 ($M) 2010 ($M) 10/09 % change 2011 ($M) 11/10 % change 2012F ($M) 12/11 % change
1 Intel 4515   5207 15 10764  107 12500  16
2 Samsung 3518 10948 211   9200  -16 12200  33
3 TSMC 2687   5936 121   7333  24   6000  -18
  Total 10720 22091 106 27297  24 30700  12

Samsung is significantly boosting spending for logic ICs. Approximately $6.5 billion of Samsung’s 2012 capex budget is dedicated to logic ICs. Samsung is Apple’s foundry partner for the A4 and A5 application processors used in iPad tablet computers, iPhones, and iPod touch devices, and doesn’t want to lose this lucrative business. Samsung is also aggressively ramping its in-house application processor business as demand increases for its smartphones, tablet PCs, and other mobile/media related devices. The remaining $5.7 billion of Samsung’s capex budget will be spent on memory IC fab, likely focused on boosting NAND flash memory capacity.

Intel’s capex was $10.8 billion in 2011 and is forecast to be $12.5 billion in 2012, which, put against the context of how much Intel’s business has grown, is justified, says the company. Intel is nearing completion of, and will soon be equipping and ramping production at, three new wafer fabs in Chandler, AZ; Hillsboro, OR; and Ireland. The company plans to begin 14nm production in Chandler when that fab opens in 2013. The new Hillsboro facility will focus on process development using 450mm wafers when it begins operations in 2013. Meanwhile, several fabs will begin 22nm production of x86 processors in the second half of 2012.

Intel too is making a concerted effort to expand its processor presence for smartphones and media devices. Intel’s Ultrabook initiative has piqued consumer interest and is likely to create additional demand for the company’s processors in the second half of 2012. Also read: Intel’s CES keynote: Highlights from Otellini’s talk and Intel Press Briefing and Keynote at CES 2012

A thorough overview and specific details of capital expenditures by company and geographic region is just part of the information included in the 2012 edition of The McClean Report. View http://www.icinsights.com/services/mcclean-report/ for more information.

January 20, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — LED manufacturer Seoul Semiconductor Co. Ltd. has applied, registered, and secured more than 10,000 patents for light emitting diodes (LEDs) globally. The company holds a patent portfolio across a broad range of technologies and processes, including material, design, manufacturing and methodology.

Seoul Semiconductor invests 10-20% of its annual revenue in research and development, including funding of an affiliate company. Seoul Semiconductor’s strategy is to hold a large number of patents, and cross-license with major LED corporations, noted Brian Wilcox, vice president of Seoul Semiconductor, saying "R&D is our future and patents heighten our competitiveness."

The company holds patent rights for Acrich, a semiconductor light source using a multi-cell architecture. Starting in 2012, Seoul Semiconductor expects increased business activity from the Acrich2 AC LED technology, as it goes into production. The LED maker also has patent rights for deep UV LED technology, which it expects to be a future commercial success.

Seoul Semiconductor is a top LED supplier with a range of LED technology and production capacity in areas such as deep UV LEDs and non-polar LEDs, as well as Acrich AC LEDs. Learn more at http://www.acriche.com/en/.

Visit the new LEDs Manufacturing Channel on ElectroIQ.com!

January 20, 2012 — Purdue University researchers have created microtweezers for the manufacture of tiny structures in micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), printing coatings on advanced sensors, and live stem cell sphere manipulation.

The variety of miniature structures in MEMS could be expanded using this microtweezer manufacturing technology, which assembles components like microscopic Lego pieces moved individually into place, said Cagri Savran, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. The microtweezers are compact and user-friendly, he added, and the team has demonstrated them by assembling 40um-diameter polystyrene spheres into three-dimensional shapes (at left below). It can also place tiny particles on the tip of a microcantilever (at right below).

Figure 1. Microtweezers constructing tiny structures at Purdue University. SOURCE: Birck Nanotechnology Center.

The new tool comprises a thimble knob from a standard micrometer, a two-pronged tweezer made from silicon, and a graphite interface that converts the turning motion of the thimble knob into a pulling-and-pushing action to open and close the tweezer prongs. No electrical power sources are needed. The new microtweezers are designed to be attached easily to translation stages and can be easily detached from a platform and brought to another lab while still holding a micro-size object for study, Savran said.

The two-pronged tweezer is micromachined in a cleanroom with the same techniques used to create semiconductors. The design’s one-piece "compliant structure," which is springy like a bobby pin or a paperclip, replaces the more complex hinges and other components of common microtweezers.

Figure 2. Purdue researchers’  microtweezers. SOURCE: Birck Nanotechnology Center.

"We currently are working to weigh single micro particles, individually selected among many others, which is important because precise measurements of an object’s mass reveal key traits, making it possible to identify composition and other characteristics," Savran said. That work is a collaboration with the research group of Timothy Ratliff, the Robert Wallace Miller Director of Purdue’s Center for Cancer Research.

The microtweezers also could facilitate the precision printing of chemical or protein dots onto microcantilevers to functionalize them for specific purposes. Microprinting a sequence of precisely placed dots of different chemicals on each cantilever, rather than coating it in one chemical, could functionalize a device to detect several substances at once with a smaller sample size.

The research was based at the Birck Nanotechnology Center in Purdue’s Discovery Park. Purdue has filed for a provisional patent on the design.

The research is described in the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems (JMEMS) by Savran, mechanical engineering graduate students Bin-Da Chan and Farrukh Mateen, electrical and computer engineering graduate student Chun-Li Chang, and biomedical engineering doctoral student Kutay Icoz. Access the journal here: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=84

Courtesy of Emil Venere at Purdue University.

Research contact: Cagri A. Savran, 765 494-8601, [email protected].

Recently, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Virginia (UVA) have demonstrated that electron microscope beams can be used to move around nanoscale objects, raising the possibility of positioning and assembling nanoelectronics. Learn more: Electron beam could assemble nanoscale objects

View recent issues of the MEMS Direct newsletter

January 19, 2012 — Air Liquide Electronics completed a series of expansions at its ALOHA manufacturing sites in the United States (California), France (Chalon) and Japan (Tsukuba). The company has doubled its advanced precursor production capacity, and will be able to introduce multiple products with the updated facilities.

Air Liquide is expanding its precursor production for advanced, nanoscale semiconductor manufacturing processes. The precursors increase the electrical and mechanical performance of film materials used in microelectronics fabrication. The ALOHA product line includes all the advanced CVD and ALD precursors for sub-65nm semiconductor device manufacturing.

Fremont, CA’s site supports mass production of the ALOHA precursors. Its production area doubled, with a new laboratory for joint development projects with customers and technology providers workign on advanced deposition materials. Chalon and Tsukuba have expanded with an eye to more capacity for key products.

Capacity is ramping up for:

  • ZyALD for second generation ZrO2 high-k materials for advanced DRAM,
  • silicon precursors for a variety of sub-32nm applications such as patterning and gapfill in memory and high-end logic chips,
  • high-k metal gate (HKMG) precursors now qualified on major OEM platforms,
  • metallization precursors for copper capping or barrier layers as well as DRAM capacitor electrodes,
  • TORUS precursors for ruthenium metallization,
  • low-k precursors and ancillary materials for advanced back-end dielectric stacks,
  • new materials for new devices such as resistive (ReRAM) and phase change (PCRAM) memory.

Air Liquide has also decided to broaden its offering beyond carrier and specialty gases and precursor materials used in the manufacturing process into fluorine cleaning gas solutions. Starting in 2012, flat panel display and silicon thin film photovoltaic manufacturing sites will have access to this environmentally friendly gas. Read: Air Liquide Electronics launch of a new offer

Air Liquide provides gases for industry, health, and the environment. Air Liquide Electronics is the global organization of Air Liquide dedicated to the semiconductor, photovoltaic and flat panel markets. Air Liquide is listed on the Paris Euronext stock exchange (compartment A) and is a member of the CAC 40 and Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 indexes. Learn more at www.airliquide.com.

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January 18, 2012 — The evening SEMI’s International Semiconductor Strategy Day 2 ended with a banquet celebrating the 35th anniversary of this ISS meeting and honoring Stan Meyers, who retired in November after 15 years as SEMI President and 24 years as a SEMI Board member. Jim Morgan of Applied Materials, Ken Levy of KLA-Tencor and Stan’s successor Denny McGuirk paid tribute to Stan’s contributions and character over the years. Denny also presented the 2011 SEMI Award for North America to QD Vision of Lexington, MA for commercialization of quantum dot technology used in lighting and displays. The award was accepted by CTO and Founder Seth Coe-Sullivan.

Day 3 of ISS 2012 began under brisk clear skies, but with an ominous storm front clearly defined and moving toward land. Soon…

Luc Van Den Hove, CEO of IMEC, opened this final day with his view of innovation in semiconductors and the wide-ranging implications for the ways they will impact our lives even more. Medical care is a hugely impactful area, including the migration from reactive treatment of symptoms to proactive detection of predictive biomarkers. By 2030, the global population over age 65 will exceed 1 billion. Luc recapped the enabling materials innovation that took us from 90nm to 14nm, then ventured to super mobility channels and tunnel FETs that will be components of the road to 7nm. The top 8 fabs representing 76% of 300mm capacity are working with IMEC.
Figure 1. Tunnel FET.

Marianne Wu, Partner at Mohr Davidow, brought in the current VC view of clean tech and how it relates to our industry. The global population is becoming wealthier and living longer, driving energy demand aggressively and making clean tech the 3rd largest VC investment sector today. The cost of PV modules has fallen to the point where the solar power market is sustainable without government subsidies. The semiconductor opportunities are grouped in power electronics and distributed power management; LED lighting; and sensors — the internet of things. Quantum dot enhancement will improve color management in LED lighting, but thermal management remains a gating factor.
Figure 2. Fundamental drivers remain strong.
Figure 3. Global demand growth continues.

Waguih Ishak, Division VP at Corning, talked about the role of glass in enabling the technology advances covered in this meeting. Their invention of low loss optical fiber in 1972 arguably created the internet. Very tough Gorilla Glass is ubiquitous in smart phones and iPads where handling can be rough. Corning’s video on YouTube, “A Day Made of Glass” has over 17M hits and prompted calls for orders of displays shown in the video. These were visionary mockups, not available products, but these calls prompted a product development workshop at Stanford last October.
Figure 3. Surface strength of thin semiconductor-quality wafer glass: Amazingly strong.

Matthew Taylor, CEO of Edwards, espoused the product solutions resulting from vacuum science. While maintaining a semiconductor-centric focus, there is a strong emphasis on diversification to tangentially-related emerging technologies, new general vacuum applications, and environmental abatement. For all of the fuss made over high technology sectors, note that the application shown at the upper right in the figure, representing greatest vacuum intensity, is steel degassing.
Figure 4. Vacuum and abatement applications are proliferating. 

Michael Wright, President of Applied Global Strategies, moderated the Streetviews Panel; panelists included Edwin Mok of Needham, Avinash Kant of DA Davidson and Krish Sankar of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Nuns in drag did not participate in this year’s discussion. Edwin: capital intensity is declining, but is likely to stabilize as was the case for the HDD industry. Expect a flat line in 2012 and modest growth in 2013. Avinash: he’s expanded his coverage to include advanced materials (ATMI, CCMP, ENTG) and clean tech. The 10 year segment CAGR of 9% is significantly lower than the previous 8 year CAGR of 27%, possibly responsible for the lower multiples these companies are enjoying. Krish: forecasting 2012 cap-ex to be down 15% Y/Y, with capacity expansion returning late in the year. A NAND rebound is anticipated 2H12; DRAM bit growth will come from shrinks, not capacity addition. Michael: we haven’t had a semiconductor equipment IPO in 6 years. Samsung announced a $13.2B cap-ex plan this morning. Q&A: There was no prescient insight provided regarding what analysts look for in evaluating companies in our industry; do everything well. There are a handful of candidate small equipment suppliers on the table for consolidation or aggregation into the larger players.

Read Fury’s reports from ISS:

ISS kicks off with IC industry reality talks

ISS day 2: Cloud computing to drive 450mm, closer collaboration

And chief editor Pete Singer’s report:

ISS: Top Ten Economic Trends in 2012

January 18, 2012 — In 2011, Apple Inc. became the world’s largest purchaser of micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) microphones, passing Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Apple’s share of MEMS buying amounted to 27% for the year, compared to 20% for Samsung.

Top 4 brand purchasers of MEMS microphones in 2011 (Ranking by Unit Shipments in Millions of Units). SOURCE: IHS iSuppli.

2011 Rank Brand 2010 Unit Shipments 2010
Market Share		 2011 Unit Shipments 2011
Market Share		 2010-2011 Growth
1 Apple 127.8 18% 348.8 27% 173%
2 Samsung 132.2 19% 250.8 20% 90%
3 LG 90.4 13% 88.3 7% -2%
4 Motorola 44.0 6% 61.9 5% 41%
  Others 309.3 44% 533.9 42% 73%
  Grand Total 703.7 100% 1283.6 100% 82%

Overall global shipments of MEMS microphones rose to 1.3 billion units in 2011, up 82% from 704 million in 2010. MEMS microphone revenue in 2012 is projected to reach $493.5 million, up 32% from $373.2 million in 2011, shows an IHS iSuppli MEMS Market Brief. This year’s revenue expansion continues last year’s remarkable 64% increase. By 2015, MEMS microphone revenue will hit approximately $667.0 million, equivalent to a five-year compound annual growth rate of 24% starting from 2010. Shipments in 2015 will amount to some 2.9 billion units.

Apple primarily purchases MEMS microphones for its iPhones, headsets, and most notably iPads. Apple bought 173% more MEMS microphones year-over-year, or 349 million units, IHS reports.
 
MEMS microphones use a pressure-sensitive diaphragm etched on a semiconductor, replacing conventional electret condenser microphones (ECM) with a smaller form factor and better sound quality, among other benefits. Learn more in MEMS microphones make noise in 2012 from IHS director and principal analyst, MEMS and sensors, Jérémie Bouchaud.

Apple began its MEMS microphone buying spree with its iPhone 4, said Bouchaud. The iPad 2’s success pushed Apple into the #1 spot, with help from handsets and iPhones. Apple uses two analog MEMS microphones in its iPhone 4 and 4S phones, one analog MEMS microphone in the headset sold with the iPhone, and one digital MEMS microphone for Pad 2 tablets. "There has been a rapid adoption of multiple microphones in smartphone devices for noise compression, particularly important for voice commands such as those used in the Siri speech-recognition feature of the iPhone 4S," Bouchard notes.

Also read: Apple shares list of suppliers

Samsung uses dual MEMS microphones for its smartphones, and the microphones are also in the Galaxy 10.1 tablet. Samsung’s share in 2011 was roughly the same as it was in 2010.

Other notable MEMS microphones buyers include LG Electronics for its phones and G-Slate tablet; as well as Motorola Inc., an early adopter via its Razr phones as early as 2003.

Learn more about this topic with the forthcoming IHS iSuppli report, MEMS Microphones Go Digital in 2012: http://www.isuppli.com/MEMS-and-Sensors/Pages/MEMS-Microphones-Go-Digital-in-2012.aspx?PRX

View recent issues of the MEMS Direct newsletter

 

January 17, 2012 — IBM (NYSE: IBM) scientists have developed a flexible, non-contact, silicon microfluidic probe to accurately stain tissue sections at the micrometer scale for drug discovery and disease diagnostics research.

Tissue staining is widely used in pathology to detect disease markers in a patient’s sample. Traditional staining involves multiple chemical steps and precise exposure times. Mistakes at tissue staining can lead to false diagnoses. Biopsy samples are typically a few millimeters long. Staining is performed on many thin slices of the sample to identify and sub-type diseases.

The probe developed by IBM will "ensure a high diagnostic capability while minimizing patient discomfort," said Prof. Dr. Ali Khademhosseini, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The probe stains a very small section of tissue with virtually any biomarker. Multiple stains can be used on the same sample.

The 8mm-wide, diamond-shaped probe comprises a silicon microfluidic head with 2 microchannels at each tip (See Figure 1). The head injects the liquid on the surface, then continuously aspirates the liquid to prevent spreading and accumulation on the surface, which can lead to overexposure.

Figure 1. The probe is similar to an inkjet head; however, unlike an inkjet printer cartridge, the head re-aspirates the liquid that it injects on a surface.

For tissue section analysis, the probe can deliver an antibody very locally in a selected area of a tissue section with pinpoint accuracy. Since analysis can be done on spots and lines instead of on the entire tissue section, the tissue is better preserved for additional tests, if required. In addition, only a few picoliters (one trillionth of a liter) of liquid containing antibodies are needed for each analysis spot.

The microfluidic probe fits to standard workflows in conventional pathology. In addition, it is compatible with current biochemical staining systems and is resistant to a broad range of chemicals. The small size of the probe also enables easy viewing of the sample from above and below by an inverted microscope commonly used in research and clinical laboratories. Pathology can be put on a "modern roadmap," thanks to "the latest developments in silicon-based microfluidics," said Govind Kaigala, a scientist at IBM Research – Zurich. Also read: Microfluidics: $4B in 2016, thanks to life sciences

Figure 2. Marios Georgiadis, currently a PhD student at ETH Zurich, Institute for Biomechanics, takes a closer look at a silicon wafer containing dozens of microfluidic probes.

Prof. Dr. Khademhosseini said, "The developed system may have great potential in applications where sample size and the need for testing various types of biological analysis are required. I am confident that one day such approach will enable us to take small tissue biopsies and be able to obtain significantly more information."

IBM scientists will continue to test and improve the probe and potentially begin using it in laboratory environments in the next several months. The team plans to explore specific clinical applications, possibly with partners in the field of pathology.

IBM’s work is reported in the peer-reviewed journal Lab on a Chip. The scientific paper entitled "Micro-immunohistochemistry using a microfluidic probe" by Robert D. Lovchik, Govind V. Kaigala, Marios Georgiadis and Emmanuel Delamarche, appears at http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2012/lc/c2lc21016a.

Figure 3. A concept and workflow of micro-immunohistochemistry (μIHC) using a vertical microfluidic probe (vMFP). Dewaxing and rehydration of the tissue are performed according to conventional IHC (1). Using injection and aspiration apertures at the apex of a vMFP head, a solution of primary antibody is hydrodynamically confined (in the presence of an immersion liquid) to selected areas of a tissue section (2). Post-processing for visualization of the antigens on the tissue section continues as in standard IHC: the tissue section is incubated with secondary antibodies, and enzymatic precipitation of 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (DAB) chromogen leads to a visual signal, indicating the expression level of specific antigens in the tissue section semi-quantitatively. Typical parameters for the vMFP scans are indicated. Source: Lab on a Chip, DOI:10.1039/C2LC21016A

See all the photos from the microfluidic probe development on Flickr

Learn more about IBM at http://www.ibm.com/us/en/

Recent IBM news: IBM discovers magnetic storage limit at 12 atoms

View recent issues of the MEMS Direct newsletter

January 17, 2012 — In December 2011, Apple was reported to acquire Anobit Technologies for half a billion dollars. Anobit is a 5-year-old start-up company developing advanced error correction code (ECC) and signal processing technologies. Research and Markets notes a trend of NAND flash memory advances — and Apple is the largest consumer of NAND flash — prompting chip companies to buy signal processing companies.

Apple’s Anobit Technologies acquisition follows a less widely known acquisition of Storage Genetics by Micron Technology in 2010. Storage Genetics also was developing advanced ECC and signal processing technologies. Also read: Analyst take: Inside Intel/Micron’s 25nm NAND device

NAND flash memories are scaling below 2Xnm process nodes and transitioning to 3-bit/cell, and bit errors are increasing. Traditional error correction codes such as BCH, RS and Hamming code will no longer be sufficient. These codes suffer from increased overhead in terms of coding redundancy and read latency as the number of errors corrected increases. In addition, the number of electrons stored in the memory cell is decreasing with each generation of flash memory, resulting in reduced signal/noise requiring enhanced sensing techniques.   

Digital signal processing technology has been used in the magnetic recording industry since the early 1990s, when partial-response maximum-likelihood technology (PRML) was commercialized. DSP technology is now being deployed in 3-bit per cell NAND flash memories and a concerted effort is being made by NAND flash manufacturers and a handful of startups to employ digital signal processing technology to improve the endurance and performance of next-generation NAND flash memories and solid state drives (SSD). Signal processing technology will be essential for the continued scaling of NAND flash memories.   

In its research report, ECC and Signal Processing Technology for Solid State Drives and Multi-bit  per cell NAND Flash Memories (2nd Edition), Research and Markets examines the current state of ECC techniques and explores the technology, roadmap, market, cost as well as the key players and startups in the flash signal processing space. For more information, visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/product/7c6482/ecc_and_signal_processing_technology_for_soli

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January 16, 2012 — The Organic Electronics Association, a working group within VDMA, released its "OE-A Roadmap for Organic and Printed Electronics," 4th edition, December 2011 for download. The roadmap covers organic/printed electronics application clusters such as flexible displays and smart systems, as well as the outlook on materials, substrates, and patterning processes.

The roadmap details product generations with their key applications and technology parameters. It also identifies principle challenges.

The OE-A roadmap application clusters:

Supply chain technologies:

  • Functional materials
  • Patterning processes 
  • Substrates

The last edition of the OE-A roadmap was published in 2009. Today, organic and printed electronics are entering the mass market. "Exciting technical progress" has been made since the 2009 edition. Taking these factors into account, the 2011 edition was streamlined by grouping related application areas with commercial appeal. The Organic Electronics Association believes that the industry must develop "a common opinion about what kind of products, processes and materials will be available and when." Challenges must be approached from every aspect of the organic/printed electronics value chain.

The roadmap can help industry, government agencies and scientists plan and align R&D activities and product plans.


The 4th edition of the OE-A roadmap is available for download from the OE-A homepage.

Want to become a member of the OE-A Roadmap project groups? Contact [email protected].

Visit the new Displays Manufacturing Channel on ElectroIQ.com!
Visit the new LEDs Manufacturing Channel on ElectroIQ.com!

January 16, 2012 — Taiwan became the region with the largest share of installed wafer capacity in 2011, according to IC Insights’ Global Wafer Capacity 2011-12 report. This is the first time Taiwan has led the global wafer capacity rankings, with 21% of total in mid-2011.

Each regional number is the total installed monthly capacity of semiconductor fabs in that region, regardless of the headquarters location for the companies that own the fabs.

Top 5 regions, installed wafer processing capacity:

  1. Taiwan: 21%
  2. Japan: 19.7%
  3. Korea: 16.8%
  4. The Americas: 14.7%
  5. China: 8.9%

Figure. Installed wafer fab capacity (K w/m) in global regions (based on where the capacity is installed, not where the parent company is headquartered), July 2011.

Note: Rest of world (ROW) is primarily Singapore, Israel, Malaysia, also including Russia, Belarus, India, South Africa, and Australia.

Taiwan is not only the largest wafer processing region, but it also has the largest share of 300mm capacity.  In 2011, Taiwan held 25.4% share of worldwide 300mm wafer capacity, 18.7% of 200mm wafer capacity, and 11.4% of 150mm wafer capacity. 300mm wafers represent 64.6% of the country’s installed capacity; 200mm wafers are 29.2%; 150mm wafers accounted for 6.1%.

Taiwan also leads the industry with capacity dedicated to "not so leading-edge" 40nm-60nm process geometries. Taiwan focuses on providing foundry services to various fabless IC suppliers, fab-lite IDMs, and electronic system producers.

Taiwan re-elected its leader Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT) for a second term this week. Ma is not expected to make any major economic and regulatory reforms, according to the US-Taiwan Business Council.

IC Insights also notes in the research that China accounts for more wafer capacity than all of Europe. Nearly all of the installed wafer fab capacity (80%+) is in the top 5 regions.

Also read: Semiconductor fab capex forecast for 2012

Detailed analysis and a forecast of the IC industry’s wafer fab capacity through 2016 is provided in the 2011-12 edition of IC Insights’ Global Wafer Capacity report.

Published in November 2011, the Global Wafer Capacity 2011-2012 report features IC wafer capacity analyses and forecasts through 2016. View http://www.icinsights.com/services/global-wafer-capacity/ for more information. IC Insights Inc. provides high-quality, cost-effective market research for the semiconductor industry.

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