BUSINESS TRENDS
06/01/2008
Big 4 still rule foundry roost, but Samsung moving up
The top–four foundries stayed comfortably ahead of the pack in 2007, with SMIC and Chartered still battling for third place behind TSMC and UMC, according to IC Insights. But making a big push into the top 10 is a big–name IDM with a burgeoning foundry biz of its own.
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TSMC is still far and away the top foundry in terms of sales: more than 2.5?? the amount of closest rival UMC (~$9.8B vs. ~$3.8B), and only 11% less than all the other top 14 foundries combined. Nearly everyone else had a better year in terms of growth, however. SMIC took the No. 3 spot back from Chartered with 6% growth during the year, while Chartered saw sales slip 4.5%. Together, the “top–four” firms accounted for about two–thirds (68%) of the total foundry market.
IDMs made up 16% of the foundry market, led by TI, which saw sales rise 4.3% to overtake IBM (–5%) for the fifth spot on the list. But the eye–popping number belongs to Samsung, where foundry sales soared >400% to $385M to crack the top 10. The firm said in 2006 it wanted to emphasize its foundry operation and is being aided by a technology alliance with IBM and Chartered and a new dedicated 300mm wafer fab for foundry work.
WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS
Intel, Samsung, and TSMC say they want a 450mm–wafer–capable pilot line tested and ready by 2012, through cooperation with the rest of the industry, particularly with ISMI.
Global semiconductor sales inched up 3.8% sequentially in Q1 2008 to $63.4B, according to the SIA. Taking out memory, Y–Y growth would have been 11% in March instead
of 3.4%.
Mentor Graphics and NXP Semiconductors have signed a deal whereby NXP will use Mentor’s design–for–test (DFT) products with its test tools, and Mentor obtains rights to those tools and takes over a portion of NXP’s DFT tools development group.
IBM and Spansion have signed a seven–year patent cross–licensing deal involving access to IBM patents, including recently developed “Racetrack” technology. Both companies also are planning future flash memory development targeting China.
USA
IBM and Matheson Tri–Gas have agreed to jointly develop new high–purity gases and delivery systems for the 32nm node, with mass production set to start in 2012.
R&D foundry SVTC Technologies is launching a photovoltaics business that is offering a development center and services, including reliability, testing, and certification, initially serving about 10 customers and expanding to 25–30 firms in three years.
ASIAFOCUS
TSMC is getting ready to enter the MEMS business, according to presentations and comments made from a recent press meeting and mulled by local media. Included in the talk was a roadmap of the MEMS process.
Korean chemical/finance conglomerate Hanwha Group is denying reports that it is mulling a bid for domestic chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor, according to local media reports. LG Electronics also has been suggested as an interested party.
Elpida Memory’s top executives are reducing their salaries until the company starts posting a monthly operating profit again.
A $40M VC investment in a US–based BridgeLux’s LED epitaxy technology has ties to TSMC, fueling speculation that the foundry is making a push into this market segment, notes the Taiwan Economic News.
Researchers at Chuo U. have developed technology that could slash costs for high–output long–wavelength lasers by 90%, reports the Nikkei Business Daily.
EUROFOCUS
The European Commission is funding a three–year program on maskless lithography for IC manufacturing (“MAGIC”) to explore and promote maskless lithography technologies.
Suss MicroTecand Philips Research say they are developing a new nanoimprint lithography technology, “substrate conformal imprint lithography,” that’s targeting sub–50nm patterning.
ASM International has a new plan to make its front–end business profitable: Exit the RTP market, shift more work to its Singapore facility, and standardize on a single–wafer platform. The company is also moving its headquarters to Almere.
Qimonda AG is creating a JV with German solar company Centrosolar Group to build, equip, and operate a solar cell manufacturing plant in Portugal. Fab construction is planned for mid–2008, with production starting in 2H09 with initial capacity of ~100MW peak (30M solar cells/year).