World News
03/01/2004
Business Trends
VLSI: Book-to-bill indicates 2003 turnaround for chipmakers and toolmakers
The three-month average of worldwide bookings for ICs in December was $17.95 billion, with billings of $16.55 billion, up from November's revised levels of $16.47 billion and $13.27 billion, and October's $14.56 billion and $11.5 billion, according to VLSI Research, Santa Clara, CA. The three-month IC book-to-bill ratio (B:B) was 1.26, shattering the yearly high of 1.18 set the previous month, and nearing levels not seen in 20 months.
On the equipment front, worldwide manufacturers wrapped up last year by posting the market's fourth consecutive month of B:B parity, a feat that hadn't been accomplished in more than three years, according to VLSI.
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December's equipment B:B ratio was 1.16, up from 1.11 in November 2003, 1.03 in October 2003, and 1.09 in December 2002. Equipment manufacturers posted bookings of $3.18 billion and billings of $2.75 billion in December, up from $3.01 billion and $2.71 billion in November, $2.72 billion and $2.63 billion in October, and $2.5 billion for both categories in December 2002.
Of total billings, $1.46 billion were for wafer-processing equipment, $754 million for test and related equipment, $181 million for assembly, and $358 million for service and spares. A book-to-bill ratio of 1.16 means that $116 worth of new orders was received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
For the full year 2003, VLSI calculated preliminary equipment bookings of $31.66 billion, down slightly from the previous year, with a 4% increase in sales to $31.07 billion, and a B:B ratio of 1.02, compared with 1.07 in 2002. For ICs, bookings totaled $142.06 billion, up nearly 18% from 2002, with a 16% climb in units to 91.35 billion.
WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS
Intel and a group of European retailers have formed a working group to accelerate adoption of electronic product code (EPC) technologies for use in their supply chain operations. The EPC Retail Users Group of Europe consists of Carrefour, Metro Group, and Tesco, all of whom are piloting EPC barcode and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technologies.
European semiconductor sales continued an upward growth trend in November 2003, according to data from the European Component Manufacturers Association and reported by Dow Jones. Europe's chip sales were $3.16 billion in November, up 6.4% from October and 21.2% from November 2002. Sales are up 16.4% year-to-date. Growth was attributed to strong demand in most product areas, particularly automotive and wireless communications, with microprocessors showing some weakness.
USA
Dow Corning, Midland, MI, has unveiled new lithographic materials for use in developing 193nm photoresists and antireflective coatings used in 65nm processes. The silicon-based resins currently are being beta tested by several partner companies, after nearly two years in development.
Sumitomo Mitsubishi Silicon Corp. (Sumco), the Japanese-owned JV between Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp., plans to double output capacity at its 100mm–200mm wafer plant in Hamilton Township, OH, by early next year, according to local news reports. The investment, part of a $51 million expansion, will be split between new equipment purchases and relocating existing tools.
Amkor Technology Inc., Chandler, AZ, will expand capacity for stacked chip-scale packages to meet accelerating demand. The company expects production capacity to approach 50 million/quarter, depending on die-stack configuration, by the middle of this year.
SCP Global Technologies, Boise, ID, has signed a joint development agreement with an unnamed Asian DRAM manufacturer to create an immersion technology for sub-90nm FEOL processing. SCP has already installed a prototype single-wafer tool at its facility in Korea. Work will be done there and in the US.
ASIAFocus
China
Advanced Micro Devices will open AMD (China) Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary, with headquarters in Beijing's Zhongguancun Park. The firm will take charge of AMD's regional offices in Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as the company's business in Hong Kong.
Infineon Technologies has established a new subsidiary and IC design center in China, as part of a planned $1.2 billion investment in domestic operations. Infineon Technologies Xi'an Co. Ltd. will focus on applications for communications, automotive, and industrial electronics, eventually employing 3000 workers. Infineon also is working with two local universities to develop training programs.
Japan
Industrial gas suppliers Nippon Sanso Corp. and Taiyo Toyo Sanso have announced their intent to merge. The new company, Nissan Taiho Corp., will be led by Konosuke Ose, chairman of Taiyo Toyo, with Nippon Sanso's president Hiroshi Taguchi taking his title with the new company. Nippon Sanso is the parent company of US-based Matheson Tri-Gas Inc., Parsippany, NJ.
Japan's Nikon Corp. plans to start full-scale production of extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems this year, with a planned launch in 2006 for use with 45nm and 32nm chips. Nikon formed an EUVL department in January 2003 within its precision equipment business.
Singapore
Singapore-based wafer manufacturer Systems on Silicon Manufacturing (SSMC), a JV between Philips Semiconductors and TSMC, plans to spend $250 million in 2004 to expand capacity of 200mm wafers to 33,000/month, higher than its original plans of 30,000 wafers/month. The funds will be used primarily for equipment purchases; other infrastructure upgrades will allow the company to eventually expand to 40,000 wafers/month.
Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing has signed a deal to manufacture 90nm silicon-on-insulator products for IBM, East Fishkill, NY. Production is scheduled to begin at Chartered's 300mm Fab 7 by mid-2005. The deal extends a joint development agreement signed in November 2002.
Taiwan
Royal Philips Electronics N.V. plans to invest $68 million this year to expand production at its Kaohsiung facility, according to Dow Jones. The infusion will allow the facility to offer more services for Philips Semiconductors' global and regional development.
Israel
Chipmaker Siliconix has awarded a $200 million multiyear contract to Tower Semiconductor, Migdal Haemek, Israel, according to the Jerusalem Post. Siliconix will receive wafers from Tower's Fab 1 facility over a 7–10 year period, with $53 million guaranteed over a three-year period starting a year into the contract. Siliconix also will offer $20 million up front for Tower to purchase additional equipment.
Eurofocus
Siemens AG has sold 150 million shares in Infineon Technologies, halving its ownership stake from 40% to 19%. The deal will add about €600 million ($770 million) to Siemens' 2Q04 earnings. The company said this is part of a longstanding plan to remove its interest in its former subsidiary.
Infineon Technologies, Munich, Germany, has introduced a NAND-compatible 512Mbit flash chip based on its TwinFlash technology. Initial production of the chip, developed through a JV with Saifun Semiconductors, has already begun at Infineon's 200mm DRAM facility in Dresden, with expected capacity of 10,000 wafer starts/month using 170nm process technologies, and plans to shrink to 110nm in the next node.