World News
10/01/2006
BUSINESS TRENDS
SEMI: Wafer shipments keep climbing in 2Q06
Worldwide silicon area wafer shipments rose another 4% in 2Q06 vs. the prior quarter to nearly 2000 million sq. inches (MSI), more proof that wafer suppliers are enjoying robust sales and heavy demand.
 Quarterly silicon area shipments. (Source: SEMI) |
Compared with a year ago, total wafer shipments in 2Q06 were up >20% for the third straight quarter, though slightly off the 29% year-on-year pace in 1Q06. Shipments of silicon wafers have witnessed both consecutive quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth since 2Q05.
Wafer shipments are strong across all the wafer sizes, according to Tatsuhiko Shigematsu, chairman of SEMI SMG and technology officer of SUMCO Corp., also noting the continued demand for semiconductors.
WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS
Semiconductor design software firm Synopsys Inc., Mountain View, CA, has acquired lithography simulation/verification software developer Sigma-C Software AG, Munich, Germany, for $20.5 million in cash.
Automobile semiconductor revenues are seen growing nearly 10% in 2006 to $18 billion, and will race to nearly $29 billion by 2013, thanks to demand due to planned enhancements to vehicle performance features and safety, according to data from Strategy Analytics Inc.
USA
Confirming months of speculation, Intel Corp. has announced plans for a sweeping restructuring, including $3 billion annual savings from costs and operating expenses over the next two years, $1 billion in “capital expenditure avoidance,” and 10,500 work force layoffs.
Mississippi-based SemiSouth Laboratories, a privately held company formed to commercialize silicon carbide (SiC) technologies developed at Mississippi State U., and II-VI Inc., Saxonburg, PA, have opened a new multimillion-dollar SiC manufacturing facility.
ASIAFOCUS
AMD has officially opened its multimillion-dollar R&D center in Shanghai’s Zhang Jiang technology complex, the company’s largest system design hub outside the US. Work at the Shanghai Research and Development Center will initially focus on next-generation mobile platforms, but will eventually include validating and testing AMD’s microprocessors.
Tower Semiconductor Ltd. is making a new series of 3.0-megapixel CMOS image sensors, based on its 0.18-micron process, for mobile applications including cell phones and PDAs.
Tera Probe plans to spend 5-10 billion yen (US $43-$86 million) for a new semiconductor testing facility in the Kyushu Operation Center, slated to be finished by March 2007.
Specialty foundry Dongbu Electronics and Cadence Design Systems Inc. have developed a high-voltage BCDMOS process design kit for 60V chip designs using 0.35µm process technologies, for high-voltage and power-management applications in automobiles, computer peripherals, and communication products.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has extended a licensing deal with Silicon Storage Technology Inc. (SST) to incorporate its 90nm SuperFlash embedded flash technology, moving from a 0.13µm agreement signed in Dec. 2005. Samples will be available sometime next year.
EUROFOCUS
Infineon Technologies AG said it has received a multimillion-piece purchase order from the US government to supply RF ICs for the US’ new electronic passport. The chips, which will store the same information as the paper passports, will be included in the back cover.
BASF says it is investing a “double-digit million euro” sum in a new plant at its Ludwigshafen, Germany manufacturing site, to produce process chemicals used in the semiconductor industry. The new Electronic Material Center is scheduled to open by the end of 2007.
Bede X-ray Metrology and European research consortium IMEC are collaborating on the use of x-ray metrology for process control and characterization of new semiconductor materials used at the 45nm node and below.