SEMI, VLSI add up 2006 chip, equipment numbers
03/01/2007
Demand for new semiconductor manufacturing equipment surged in December, during what was the final fiscal month for most North American companies, according to the latest data from SEMI.
 The Asia-Pacific region appears perenially strong; all regions are projected to see >10% growth in 2008 (Source: SIA) |
Orders for equipment from North American-based manufacturers rose 6.6% (a three-month average basis) in December and were 33.0% higher than a year ago. Billings dropped 2.4% sequentially but were 18.3% higher than in December 2005. Based on preliminary data, equipment sales grew 34.3% in 2006 to $19.12 billion, with 57.9% growth in bookings to $19.57 billion.
VLSI Research also has tallied its numbers for 2006: Equipment orders climbed 35.6% to $71.94 billion, while sales rose 19.1% to $61.36 billion. Chip production rose 9.8% during the year, vs. a 6.1% increase in capacity, with utilization rates of 92.5% for frontend work and 90%-94% for assembly and test. IC sales grew 9.6% to $211.22 billion, and IC unit shipments rose 8.8% to 138.29 billion units.
WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS
The semiconductor lithography market expanded at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the equipment industry in 2006 to top $6.7 billion, finally eclipsing the $6.0 billion mark achieved back in 2000, according to a report from The Information Network. The firm projects semiconductor companies will “catch their breath” in 2007 to install the excess equipment purchased in 2006, before another heavy surge (38.2%) in litho sales to $10.2 billion in 2008.
EMATECH and Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) have entered into two multiyear joint development programs. One will improve prospects for using 3D interconnect technology in volume manufacturing, supporting development of low-k materials for 45nm-32nm node processes. The other targets alternative epitaxial materials and integration with such materials with high-k metal gates on advanced short channel devices.
The Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI), a coalition of memory suppliers formed last spring to develop a chip-level standard interface for NAND flash memory, has delivered its first specification, which the group says simplifies flash controller design to facilitate integration of a wide range of NAND flash components into diverse end-use applications.
Brion Technologies Inc. and Japan’s TOOL Corp. have agreed to combine TOOL’s LAVIS layout visualization platform with Brion’s Tachyon OPC and RET/OPC verification system, in a bid to help users more easily obtain litho simulation results without difficult and complex data preparation. The pact with TOOL also gives Brion’s parent company ASML a new foothold in Japan.
Ovonyx Inc. and Qimonda AG have entered into a long-term cross license agreement targeting discrete memory products using their IP related to phase-change random-access memory (PCRAM) technology. The reversible phase-change memory process is seen as a cost-effective replacement for flash and DRAM, as well as in embedded applications.
Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) has acquired Epion Corp., a supplier of gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) technology, for an undisclosed amount. Applications for GCIB include etching, smoothing, doping, and physical and chemical surface modification.
USA
Texas Instruments Inc. says it will shift development of next-generation digital process technology over to foundry partners, to avoid incurring costs or activities on development for 32nm process node, and will focus internally on its analog and mixed-signal work. Capex is being slashed by nearly 30% this year to $900M, “a level that we find very appealing for the company going forward,” noted CFO Kevin March.
>Freescale Semiconductor Inc. is aligning with longtime partner IBM and its Common Platform chipmaking alliance including Chartered, Samsung, and Infineon, for future chip technology process development, including some 45nm activities. All of Freescale’s R&D work at Crolles2 will be transferred out by the end of the year, but some work (notably SOI) will be stopped immediately and “accelerated very significantly” with IBM and partners, noted Sumit Sadana, Freescale’s SVP of strategy and business development and acting CTO. Freescale says it will continue to use its portion of manufacturing capacity at the Crolles2 300mm fab “for some period of time after 2007.”
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. is selling its Silicon Valley Technology Center (SVTC) 65nm process R&D shop, which has hosted work on MEMS, photonics, advanced memories, and novel life-science and materials applications since 2000, to a pair of private equity firms for approximately $53 million in cash. The company’s shift toward a heavy mix of programmable products means it now has very few products that require leading-edge technology, and “we can do R&D more cost-effectively as an SVTC customer than as an owner,” stated T.J. Rodgers, company president and CEO.
ASIAFOCUS
Canon Inc. is taking full control over its 50-50 joint venture with Toshiba Corp. to bring to market a new display technology that promises cost and quality advantages, and is potentially the first significant opportunity to bring nanoelectronics into a volume-produced product. The move, seen as an effort to overcome legal concerns with a US licensor, centers on surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) technology, which could promise better picture quality and consume less energy than current liquid-crystal display and plasma technology.
United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) says it will cancel about 5.74 billion shares in order to reduce its capital by about $1.75 billion and give back about $0.09/share to every one of its shareholders. Reports quoted Liu Chi-tong, CFO of UMC, equating the payout to roughly 60% of UMC’s current cash stockpile. Going forward, the company expects to significantly increase cash flow as its six 200mm fabs approach full depreciation, and future operations should be sufficient to meet R&D needs for advanced technologies and capacity expansions.
More details have been finalized regarding Elpida Memory Inc. and Powerchip Semiconductor Corp.’s planned DRAM megafab joint venture. Rexchip Electronics Corp. will begin operations in April at the Central Taiwan Science Park Houli Site with about 1200 employees, and with ownership and capacity evenly split 50/50 between the companies. The initial investment plan calls for $1.22-$1.52 billion to achieve capacity of 30,000 300mm wafers/month. Equipment installation is slated for 2Q07, with mass production achieved in 3Q using Elpida’s 70nm process technologies, and product shipments starting by year’s end.
Having finally received the green light from Taiwan’s government to transfer 200mm/0.18µm technologies to mainland China, Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. says it will expand its current partnership with Japan’s Renesas Technology Corp. to include setting up a 200mm fab in China, according to the Taiwan Economic News. Powerchip owns a 200mm fab in Taiwan with 37,000 wafers/month capacity, now used mainly for memory chips and logic IC foundry services. Renesas already provides technical services to Powerchip for NAND flash chips, and the two reportedly have set up a JV for system-on-chip memory chip design in Japan, the paper noted.
Praxair Inc.’s China unit has been tabbed to supply industrial gases, including ultrahigh-purity nitrogen, oxygen, argon, hydrogen, and helium, to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.’s (SMIC) Fab 8 300mm/90nm facility in Shanghai, where significant expansions are expected to come online later this year.
AZ Electronic Materials will invest about $7.8 million to expand photoresist production in Hsinchu, Taiwan, to produce semi-finished products and eliminate the need for using bulk production in Japan. Construction is slated to be completed by October, and achieve full operation in late 2008.
EUROFOCUS
Former Philips chip unit NXP Semiconductor is ending its participation in the Crolles2 chipmaking partnership with STMicroelectonics and Freescale at the end of this year, although ST says it’s still committed to the partnership. NXP says it will strengthen its cooperation with TSMC to include advanced R&D in CMOS process technologies as well as manufacturing partnership, with work leveraging NXP’s existing research organization at IMEC’s facilities in Belgium, and TSMC’s corporate R&D in Taiwan.
While committed to following through with 45nm work done with its Crolles2 alliance through the end of this year, ST is seeking to push ahead with 32nm development with partners and/or in the framework of an alliance. The timeframe for 32nm work will depend on who the partners are and the alliance that ST either joins or develops, an ST representative told SST. Crolles2, meanwhile, will narrow its focus to “derivative technologies” that support ST’s wireless and mobile applications efforts, including analog CMOS (power management) and RF CMOS (communications) for cell phones, and image sensors for camera modules.
In a 4Q06 financials conference call with analysts and investors, Infineon Technologies AG CEO Wolfgang Ziebart predicted “the usual negative seasonality” in 2Q, with revenues and EBIT essentially flat, while inventories are expected to ease a bit due to a pickup in the company’s communications business and a shift in factory mix. He added that the company sees short-term opportunities “especially in the power semiconductor area by ramping up our manufacturing in Kulim [Malaysia] faster,” and noted that development expenditures should continue to fall over the next couple of years, with mid-to-long-term depreciation levels of roughly 10%-12% of revenues.