World News
08/01/2002
BUSINESS ROUND-UP
N.A. tool orders, billings rise in May
North American toolmakers posted $1.08 billion in orders in May 2002 with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.26, according to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (Semi).
The three-month average of worldwide bookings in May was $1.08 billion, 9% above the revised April 2002 level of $996 million and 50% above the $723 million in orders posted in May 2001.
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The three-month average of worldwide billings in May was $862 million, 6% above the revised April 2002 level of $815 million and 41% below the May 2001 billings level of $1.46 billion.
Chip sales increased in May, as well, with worldwide sales that totaled $11.37 billion in May, a 2.8% increase from the $11.07 billion level reached in April, with broad-based growth in all product sectors except for computation, according to the Global Sales Report by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
In other industry news, VLSI Research Inc. reported a front-end capacity utilization of 82.6%, up from 80.1% in April. That number is projected to grow to 87.5% in June, 88.5% in July, and 90.4% in August, according to VLSI.
SIA sees 3.1% increase in chip sales for 2002
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) expects semiconductor sales to increase by 3.1% this year, with the growth rate accelerating to 23.2% in 2003 and 20.9% in 2004, according to recently announced projections.
It predicts a slowdown in growth of 0.9% to $215 billion in 2005.
According to the SIA, in the next four years, the Asia Pacific market will become the world's largest in sales revenue, followed by the Americas. Europe will trail the Americas with Japan following behind.
Of all the semiconductor regions, Asia Pacific is forecast to experience the only growth in 2002 with sales increasing 27% to $51 billion, and continued growth in 2003 and 2004 of 25% to $63 billion and 23% to $77 billion, respectively. Like the other markets in 2005, Asia Pacific will experience a 4% slowdown in growth to $80 billion.
VLSI: Tool market to enjoy 22% CAGR during 2002-2007
The overall semiconductor and related equipment market will grow at a CAGR of 22% between 2002 and 2007, and equipment sales will reach $100 billion in 2007, according to a recent report by VLSI Research Inc., San Jose, CA.
VLSI noted that at first glance, a $100 billion tool market seems astounding, especially for a beleaguered industry still reeling from the downturn. However, calculated as a CAGR from the high point of $60 billion in 2000, the industry average translates to only 8% annually. The equipment market will recover in 2002, but will continue to be in negative territory. Growth will resume in 2003 and will peak in 2004.
VLSI remarked that while markets for FPDs, TFHs, and MEMS remain relatively small in comparison to ICs, they are growing faster and have generated enough revenues for suppliers to make a significant impact on the overall value of the semiconductor industry. In 2001, these markets represented $3.8 billion of equipment sales, or almost 10% of the total.
USA
Veeco Instruments Inc. and FEI Co. have penned a definitive merger agreement to combine the companies into one provider of 3-D metrology and process equipment. FEI will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Veeco in the $1 billion deal, and Veeco will be renamed Veeco FEI Inc. Vahe Sarkissian, FEI's chairman, president, and CEO, will become chairman of the board and chief strategy officer of Veeco FEI; Edward Braun, Veeco's chairman, president, and CEO, will remain CEO and president. Veeco FEI Inc. will be headquartered in Woodbury, NY, and will have approximately 2900 employees worldwide.
Newport Corp., Irvine, CA, has completed the sale of its US-based noncontact metrology business to an affiliate of Optical Gaging Products, Rochester, NY. The transaction is the second step of Newport's plan to sell the majority of its industrial metrology systems division. In May of this year, Newport completed the sale of its contact measurement metrology business to Hexagon AB of Sweden.
JMAR Technologies, San Diego, CA, has received a fully definitized contract for $5.3 million from the US Army Robert Morris Acquisition Center in Adelphi, MD, to finance completion of the first of its integrated proprietary point-source laser plasma lithography systems. The prototype system will initially perform sub-130nm lithography demonstrations using GaAs semiconductors.
Akrion, Allentown, PA, has received ISO 9001:2000 certification, the latest version of the internationally recognized standard for quality management. The certificate was presented by KEMA-Registered Quality Inc., an affiliate of N.V. KEMA of The Netherlands. KEMA granted the registration upon Akrion's successful completion of a series of quality management audits. Akrion designs and constructs advanced automated and semiautomated wet immersion surface preparation equipment.
Rodel Inc., Phoenix, AZ, has begun a strategic partnership and an exclusive long-term supply agreement with Nanophase Technologies, Romeoville, IL. Under terms of the agreement, Rodel will combine its patented chemistries with Nanophase's nanoparticle technology to develop and market new CMP slurries for semiconductor applications.
Genmark Automation, Sunnyvale, CA, has opened a new branch office in Portland, OR. Genmark, which makes robotics, software, motion control, and integrated tool automation equipment for the chip industry, recently opened a 53,000 ft2 manufacturing facility in Milpitas, CA. The Portland office will provide technical support and serve as a training center for customers.
Coherent Inc., Santa Clara, CA, has received a multiyear contract from International Sematech for lasers used to develop advanced photomasks. The agreement is targeted to laser systems at wavelengths below 200nm; these will be needed to fabricate photomasks for sub-70nm technology nodes.
Veeco Metrology, Santa Barbara, CA, has agreed to join the SiLKnet Alliance data network, an industry technical collaboration on low-k dielectric materials integration. Veeco's expertise in atomic force microscopy will add essential metrology capabilities to the Alliance, which is developing fab-ready products and processes that support the integration of SiLK dielectric resin in the 130nm technology node and beyond.
FuGasity Corp., Allen, TX, has received a Notice of Allowance for a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office for a technological advance in the area of semiconductor process flow control. The patent claims cover technology for controlling the flow of fluids in chipmaking processes.
Cabot Corp., Boston, MA, and Vishay Intertechnology, Malvern, PA, have achieved an amicable resolution of the pending legal dispute relating to their long-term tantalum supply contracts by agreeing to amend those contracts. The minimum total value of the contracts is approximately $425 million. One of the supply contracts has been extended through 2006.
Tessera Technologies Inc., San Jose, CA, a provider of chip-scale and multichip packaging solutions, has signed an expanded technology licensing agreement with Toshiba Corp., Tokyo, Japan, that enables Tessera to act as the licensor of Toshiba's fine-pitch BGA assembly process for face-up chip-scale packages.
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has acquired an 80% stake in AccSys Technology Inc., Pleasanton, CA, a supplier of ion linear accelerator systems. Through the acquisition, Hitachi will apply AccSys' ion linear accelerator technology to its in-house developed proton beam therapy systems.
Palomar Technologies, Vista, CA, a manufacturer of automated assembly systems, has received ISO-9001 certification. The certification applies to all phases of Palomar's quality management system, including planning, design, manufacturing, sales, services, and customer satisfaction.
ANADIGICS Inc., Warren, NJ, a supplier of wireless and broadband communications solutions, has opened a 10,000 ft2 expansion to its semiconductor fab in Warren. The company invested some $10 million in the expansion, which doubled its fab capacity.
Praxair Inc., Danbury, CT, has launched its North American Specialty Gas Customer Technical Support Center in Bethlehem, PA. The center, run by Praxair Distribution Inc., provides specialty gas product sourcing support, custom mixture quotes, and technical assistance for specialty gas equipment. Customers can also get information on material compatibility as well as gas-handling equipment recommendations.
ASML has opened its new North American Training Center, in Tempe, AZ, to educate customers and employees on developments and techniques in manufacturing semiconductors. The 113,000 ft2 facility has a Class 100 cleanroom, 23 classrooms, and three computer labs. ASML invested some $72 million in designing and equipping the center.
Ashland Specialty Chemical, Dublin, OH, has formed a one-year alliance between its electronic chemical division's fab services unit and Axcelis Technologies, Beverly, MA, to provide cleaning and rebuilding services using Axcelis-authorized parts for subassemblies and internal components of ion implantation systems.
Mattson Technology Inc. and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (DNS) have amicably resolved their legal disputes with a settlement that includes termination of all outstanding litigation between the companies and cross licenses of patents related to certain aspects of wet immersion processing systems. The settlement calls for DNS to pay $40 million to Mattson for past damages, including partial reimbursement of legal fees, related to sales of certain wet processing products in the US. Mattson is also releasing all DNS customers from any claims of infringement relating to their purchase and future use of DNS wet processing equipment.
JAPAN
US-based Asyst Technologies Inc., a provider of integrated automation technology, has signed an agreement for a joint venture with Shinko Electric Co. Ltd. of Japan. Under terms of the agreement, Asyst will acquire 51% interest in the JV, Asyst Shinko Inc., which will contain the automated material-handling systems (AMHS) business of Shinko Electric. Shinko will retain 49% ownership; Asyst will pay ¥8.16 billion for its share, at a rate equivalent to 1.34 times Shinko's AMHS sales for the year ended March 31. The transaction is expected to close on October 1.
 Japan tool orders slid 24% in April to Yen84.87 billion. |
Showa Denko KK, Tokyo, Japan, has developed mass production technology for dipivaloylmethanato (DPM) metallic complex, a product made from organic compounds and certain metals. Because the DPM complex evaporates at around 200°C, it is expected to be used in metalorganic CVD, a method for forming thin films. Showa Denko, which produces more than 10 types of DPM complexes using metals like copper, ruthenium, and thulium, is targeting annual sales of US$8.04 million in three years.
Tokyo Electron plans to increase its capacity to make resist-coater developers for LCDs at its Otsu plant in Kumamoto by 25%. TEL can currently make eight units/month, about half for 600 to 800mm glass substrates, half for 1000mm size. It will up that to 10 tools/month by next March. Each of these tools is some 30m wide, so the company is running out of space to assemble them.
Mitsubishi Electric plans to convert its 5-in. line at its Kumamoto fab to a 6-in. line, starting next month. The conversion will boost capacity by 40%, to 3000 wafers/month. Mitsubishi officials said that utilization on the line dropped to 40% last year but was now back up to 2000 levels. The company's 8-in. line at Kumamoto is also reportedly back up to running at 95% of 2000 levels, thanks largely to strong demand for flash memory for phones.
Sumitomo Electric Industries is sampling high-purity 2-in. gallium nitride wafers to makers of blue lasers. It plans to start commercial production in April, producing 300 units/month. While Nichia Chemical uses gallium nitride on a sapphire substrate for its blue lasers for reading high-capacity optical disks, other producers like Sanyo and Rohm are developing versions on other materials to avoid infringing on Nichia's patents.
By early 2003, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. will boost Shin-Etsu Handotai Co.'s output capacity of 300mm wafers from the current 75,000 to 100,000/month. The increase at its subsidiary will require an investment of about ¥10 billion.
Meet requirements down to 90nm
The SpectraFx 100 optical thin-film metrology system by KLA-Tencor allows thin-film measurements across a continuous wavelength spectrum from 220-900nm, with the option to extend down to 190nm, a critical feature for meeting stringent film-thickness and index-measurement requirements down to 90nm geometries.
EUROPE
SEZ Group, Villach, Austria, the supplier of wet wafer-surface preparation equipment, has acquired the US-based, private company L-Tech Corp., which manufactures drying equipment for batch wafer processing. The acquisition complements the wet bench product set that SEZ purchased last year, and it represents a step toward completion of the company's portfolio of wet-surface preparation products for all 200 and 300mm wafer applications.
Semiconductor services company TePla AG, Feldkirchen, Germany, has reached an agreement in principle to merge with PVA Vacuum Equipment GmbH, Asslar, Germany. Both companies make systems for material processing under high vacuum or in pure gas conditions. In the 2001 business year, the two companies had combined sales of EUR 90 million, with a work force of about 300. A valuation ratio and a new company name will be decided at a shareholder meeting in August.
Tower Semiconductor, Migdal Haemek, Israel, has signed a multiyear licensing agreement with Virage Logic, Fremont, CA. The agreement allows Virage to develop and license to Tower and its customers the NOVeA family of nonvolatile embedded memories on Tower's 0.18μm technology. Tower expects the memories to be available by 4Q02.
Europe's IMEC and STARC, of Japan, which is responsible for developing design technologies for 0.10-0.07μm SoCs within the Asuka Project, will collaborate on the development of novel methodologies for SoC design. IMEC and STARC will build future developments of SoC design methodology using each other's design assets. The initial span of the collaboration is two years. During the first phase, STARC will explore IMEC's OCAPI design methodology for implementation in its Virtual Core-Based Design System, which is supported by the Japanese New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization design environment. In the second phase, IMEC and STARC will collaborate on the development of novel SoC design technologies on an equal partnership basis.
ASIA PACIFIC
Chip foundry start-up Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Kulim, Malaysia, has launched a silicon IP initiative, offering free industry standard design libraries to its customers through Artisan Components. Artisan will custom develop a set of its popular libraries for Silterra's 0.18μm CMOS18 process. The libraries include the SAGE-X standard cells, five memory generators, and two I/O libraries. The libraries will be available in September.
In other Silterra news, the company will spend US$107 million for additional production equipment in order to increase its capacity from 18,000 to about 22,000 200mm wafers/month by 1Q03. The capital investment comes in response to higher demand for foundry services and the need to prepare for 0.13μm copper CMOS processes.
Packaging-substrate manufacturer Phoenix Precision Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, will partner with Intel Corp. to set up an NT$4 billion (US$117 million) line to make 3G flip-chip substrates. The new facility will turn out an estimated four million substrates when it reaches full capacity next year. Initial spending on the line will be NT$1 billion for an output of 300,000 to 400,000 substrates/month by the end of this year.
UMCi, the Singapore-based joint venture of UMC, Infineon Technologies, and EDBI, said that several major contracts have been awarded for the next construction phase of its 300mm fab located in Pasir Ris Wafer Fab Park. Among the companies that won contracts were Hyflux Hydrochem, M+W Zander, SOXAL, Sumitomo Chemical Engineering, and Vivendi Water Systems/USF.