Semiconductor Survivor Awards
09/01/2009
These are difficult times for the semiconductor industry. Many would say the most difficult ever. Earlier this year, we announced a contest in the spirit of CBS’s “Survivor” reality game show, whereby companies could tell us about what they were to doing overcome the recession, with an emphasis on efforts to compete, innovate and achieve.
In part, the idea for the contest was spawned back in January. At the time, the full depth of the recession was unknown, but many companies responded to our request for the January forecast issue’s Outlook for the Year with words of optimism. Most companies made it clear that they intended to not only survive the recession but come out of it “leaner and meaner” and in a stronger competitive situation.
We have selected three “Grand Winners,” one in each of three categories: 1) Semiconductor Manufacturing, 2) Wafer Processing Equipment and Materials, and 3) Advanced Packaging Equipment & Materials. We also awarded nine general Semiconductor Survivor winners from our contest entries.
The Grand Winner in the Semiconductor Manufacturing category:
Intel Corp. The cash-rich company is known for its microprocessor and flash memory products, and more recently a quirky campaign slogan “Today is so yesterday.” Intel is expected to spend $4.7 billion in capital expenditures in 2009, one of only three companies to be above the $1B capex mark, according to IC Insights.
The Grand Winner in the Wafer Processing Equipment and Materials is another market leader:
Applied Materials. Long known as the largest semiconductor manufacturing equipment supplier, AMAT has successfully diversified into other areas, most notably solar. In the Fall of 2008, Applied Materials and SunPower (SPWR) announced completion of two solar power systems totaling approximately 2 MW at AMAT’s operations in Sunnyvale, Calif. -- the largest solar power deployment at a corporate facility in the U.S.
In the Advanced Packaging Equipment and Materials category, the Grand Winner award goes to STATS ChipPac, a packaging and test service provider based in Singapore. The company announced that it is expanding capacity for full turnkey wafer level packaging in its Singapore operation in June. STATS ChipPAC has been on a steady production ramp with wafer level packaging services and more than doubled its production volume in 2008.
Semiconductor Survivor awards also go to (in alphabetical order):
ATMI During the past 20 months, ATMI has continued to invest in High Productivity Development Centers around the world that give customers access to advanced R&D methodologies that address speed, effectiveness and efficiency.
EV Group commits more than 20% of revenue toward applications-oriented research, a strategy that it allows continually augmentation of its product portfolio.
Intermolecular’s High Productivity Combinatorial (HPC) technology platform offers customers a value proposition that resonates even more during tough times.
Molecular Imprints is growing in 2009, enacting a headcount increase of over 25 percent, an expansion in its corporate HQ that almost doubles its cleanroom manufacturing capacity and a new Japan office.
Nemotek Established in May 2008, Nemotek is funded by Caisse de D??p??t et de Gestion (CDG), one of the largest investment firms in Morocco. The Class 10 clean room is the first in Africa assisting in the production of world-class silicon wafers.
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NEXX Systems has enjoyed three consecutive quarters (Q4, Q1, Q2) of positive EBIDTA; projects record revenue for 2009 and seen 24% growth in installations.
PDF Solutions’ YieldAware-FDC uses equipment sensor data to model and predict key fab manufacturing responses, including metrology measurement and wafer yield.
Poly-Flow Engineering reports that it has been able to establish significant amount of market share in container cleaning and is expected to gain more as the industry rebounds. The company recently developed a fully automated/factory integrated FOUP/FOSB purifying system.
DuPont Performance Elastomers (DPE) continues to invest in short- and long-term product development to meet the need for improved seal performance and longer seal life in aggressive environments
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