Worldwide Highlights
06/01/2002
WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS
March shows signs of spring thaw for chip, tool industries
Signs pointed to positive in March across the board, with the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (Semi) book-to-bill ratio breaking "1" for the first time in 16 months and worldwide chip sales rising 7.2%, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
According to Semi, toolmakers posted $839 million in orders and $808 million in billings in March, and a b-to-b ratio of 1.04.
March chip sales of $10.75 billion, up from February's $10.03 billion, reflected the highest monthly sequential increase since April 1986, according to SIA. Chip sales were largely driven by DRAM demand, SIA reported.
Frontend capacity utilization also rose slightly, February to March, rising from 71.3 to 73.8%, according to VLSI Research.
Three big chipmakers to form alliance
STMicroelectronics, Motorola, and Philips have proposed an alliance that would create future-generation technologies and SoC solutions more quickly and cost-effectively. Their joint investment would total $1.4 billion by 2005. The alliance would also include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. for process development/alignment.
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The combined resources of the four companies will help to develop future generations of CMOS technology from the 90nm node down to 32nm over the next five years. To be based in the new Crolles2 R&D center, Crolles, France, the program will be augmented by each company's existing R&D operations and laboratories. In addition, CEA/LETI will increase its research efforts in the Grenoble, France, labs.
International Sematech launches 300mm certification effort
In starting an industry effort to define a single set of requirements and objective tests for the certification of 300mm equipment, International Sematech is pushing for universal criteria that will enable independent testing. This would ensure the objectivity and industry acceptance of pre-delivery conformance test results.
The goal this year is to establish general guidelines that can be applied to any standards domain, as well as focused criteria for 300mm equipment software standards testing and accreditation. Final guidelines will be published on Sematech's web site in December.
USA
Canon Inc. and Applied Materials Inc. are set to collaborate in the development of semiconductor device patterning technology to support AMAT's process module strategy for 300mm wafer manufacturing. In the early phases, AMAT will use Canon's 300mm scanners for imaging gate and interconnect features at the 0.13- and 0.10μm nodes. Subsequent efforts will shift to 70nm development.
BOC Edwards, Wilmington, MA, has reached an agreement to acquire the business of Semco Corp., Livermore, CA. Semco is being integrated into BOC Edwards' chemical management business.
Schott Lithotec USA Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Schott Lithotec AG, Germany, has acquired DuPont Photomasks' photoblank business unit. Additionally, the company, based in Round Rock, TX, has entered into a long-term supply agreement with Schott, to provide access to commercial photoblanks. The companies also formed a strategic alliance to jointly develop advanced photoblanks. The deal is valued at up to $42 million.
DuPont Photomasks itself has acquired BindKey Technologies Inc., Santa Clara, CA, an electronic design automation company that will now operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of DuPont Photomasks. The company paid some $4 million in cash to BindKey's shareholders.
Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Allentown, PA, has signed a 10-year supply agreement with Nippon Helium Inc., its exclusive distributor of helium in Japan, to serve the product requirements of customers in the magnetic resonance imaging, semiconductor, fiber optics, welding, analytical, and other markets. This agreement is valued at more than $150 million for the supply terms.
Asyst Technologies Inc., Fremont, CA, has created a new organization to address the market for equipment connectivity solutions. Asyst has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of domainLogix Corp., Austin, TX, and will partner with Satyam Computer Services Ltd., India. Terms were not disclosed.
In addition, Asyst and Shinko Electric Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, have signed an agreement expected to lead to the formation of a new JV to develop, manufacture, and market Shinko's automated materials-handling systems. In addition to participating in the JV, Asyst will continue the commercialization program for its next-generation FasTrack, which uses continuous flow technology. Shinko plans to move all of its AMHS products and operations into the joint venture. Shinko will retain 49% ownership of the JV, Asyst Shinko Inc., and Asyst will purchase 51%.
Defect and Yield Management, Bedford, MA, a maker of software for semiconductor manufacturers, has been purchased by HPL Technologies, San Jose, CA, in a transaction worth $16.5 million.
Newport Corp., Irvine, CA, intends to sell the majority of its industrial metrology systems division in two transactions with unrelated strategic buyers. Newport has signed an agreement to sell the contact measurement piece of its metrology business to Hexagon AB, Nacka Strand, Sweden, an engineering company. Newport is negotiating to sell its US-based noncontract metrology business to a separate strategic buyer. Total cash proceeds from both transactions are expected to be in the range of $10-12 million. Both transactions should be finalized shortly.
Advanced Energy Industries Inc., Fort Collins, CO, has acquired Dressler HF Technik GmbH, Stolberg, Germany. Dressler is a privately held supplier of rf power solutions for plasma-based applications. The transaction totaled $16.75 million. Advanced Energy may pay an additional $3.25 million if Dressler is able to achieve key business objectives by March 30, 2003.
MKS Instruments Inc., Andover, MA, has acquired privately held IPC, a German developer of web-based hardware and software that enable e-diagnostics and APC for manufacturing customers. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Tokyo Electron Texas, Austin, TX, will become the exclusive US R&D facility for Tokyo Electron Ltd.'s (TEL) lithography processes and integrated metrology technologies. Thirty-five people will transfer from other TEL subsidiaries to focus on development.
Japan
Showa Denko is sampling what it says is the industry's first commercial 6-in. indium phosphide mirror wafer. It is installing capacity to grow, slice, and polish 500 wafers/month at its Saitama plant starting in 3Q02. Currently, the company makes 500 4-in. InP wafers/month. It targets sales of some $30 million (¥4 billion) of the compound semiconductor products in 2003, $60 million in 2004, on growing demand from optical communications markets.
Fujitsu has started pilot production of 90nm devices at its new Akirono Technology Center, using 10-layer copper and low-k, and aims at shipping product samples by summer and mass production by 2003. For flexibility in adding to the line and changing tools, Fujitsu says it is using a new system of local clean areas instead of a conventional cleanroom. Because this allowed it to ramp some tools while still installing others, the company says it cut time to production from six to four months and also reduced cleanroom operating costs. Current capacity is 5000 wafers/month.
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In addition, Fujitsu Ltd. said it plans to sell its chip assembly, quality check, and packaging operations in Kagoshima Prefecture to Amkor Technology within three years. The deal will begin with a JV that will involve the sale of 67% of Kyushu Fujitsu Electronics Ltd. to Amkor before September, and an agreement to continue orders with the firm for five years. Amkor and Fujitsu rival Toshiba Corp. formed a test and assembly joint venture about a year ago.
Cree Inc., Durham, NC, plans to open a Japan office in Tokyo to bring its technology and engineering support closer to its Japanese customers. In connection with the opening of the office, Sumitomo Corp. has been named as Cree's strategic partner and has entered into agreements with Cree to purchase some $24 million of the company's LED products over a 15-month period. The agreements are mostly for the purchase of Cree's MegaBright and XBright LEDs.
NEC Corp., Tokyo, has established a research center to apply carbon nanotubes to fuel cells with the aim of commercializing small, long-life, fuel cells for cell phones and notebook PCs for as early as FY05. The new center is located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture.
Toppan Printing started construction of a new $90 million (¥12 billion) facility to develop and produce advanced photomasks at its Asaka site in Saitama Prefecture. When completed in December, the new minienvironment facilities will initially be used to produce masks for the 100nm design rule and develop those for 70nm. In the future, it will be used to develop the company's masks for the 50nm generation.
Europe
STMicroelectronics, Geneva, Switzerland, has signed an agreement for the acquisition of Alcatel's microelectronics activities. As part of the cash transaction of Euro 390 million, the two companies intend to enter into a cooperative agreement for the joint development of DSL chip sets available to the open market. The agreement calls for ST to become a preferred supplier of Alcatel. In a separate announcement, AMI Semiconductor Inc. (AMIS), Pocatello, ID, and ST have signed an agreement whereby AMIS will purchase from ST the just-acquired mixed-signal business activities of Alcatel Microelectronics.
ASML, Veldhoven, The Netherlands, has entered the market for ALD technology through an exclusive technology-licensing agreement with Integrated Process Systems. ASML will further develop the ALD technology and the platform to deliver solutions for depositing thin films.
BOC Edwards, Crawley, UK, has completed its purchase of the magnetic suspension turbomolecular pump business from Japanese firm Seiko Instruments. Additionally, BOC Edwards has acquired Seiko's 97.5% stake in Societe de Mecanique Magnetique, France, a supplier of magnetic bearing technology used in a variety of specialist applications including vacuum.
Praxair Inc. subsidiary Praxair NV has broken ground in Oevel, Belgium, for what will be a technologically advanced filling center for the chip industry. The facility will supply ultra-high-purity semiconductor process gases to Praxair Semiconductor Materials' customers in Europe, with its ISO 14001 certifications.
Asia Pacific
Toshiba Ceramics Co., Ferrotec Corp., and Mitsui and Co. have launched a joint venture in China to produce silicon wafers. Ferrotec's investment will be through its wholly owned Shanghai Shenhe Thermo-Magnetics Electronics Co. unit. This unit will provide the factory, land, and labor, but the machinery and technology will come from Toshiba Ceramics.
ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Bermuda) Ltd. has signed a cooperative agreement with Shanghai Qingpu Industrial Zone to build IC testing and assembly factories in the zone. ChipMOS/Bermuda will implement its module and subsystem manufacturing capabilities at this fab. Full-scale production is expected to begin by 3Q05, with planned capacity of 50 million pieces/month.
Tokyo NEC Corp. plans to transfer production of amorphous TFT LCDs to a JV in mainland China, setting up a production venture with Shanghai General Electronics (Group) Co. Ltd. by the end of 2002. NEC and SVA hope to capitalize their JV at about $385 million, with SVA funding 75% and NEC 25%. The fab will handle substrates larger than 1m x 1m, and will begin operations in 2004 with a workforce of 1200.
China's Central Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. plans to increase capacity at its Fab 1 from 13,000 150mm wafers/month to 20,000 by year's end. Next year it plans to build a second fab, adding one line with capacity of 30,000 wafers/month in 2003 and another in 2004, then two more such fabs by 2007. Most will use a 0.35μm design rule.
Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., Taipei, Taiwan, said that its two 300mm fabs will kick off production in four years, and would ramp to 70,000 wafers/month on 0.13μm process. The company plans to begin production at its first fab in 2003, with initial output projected at 20,000 wafers/month.
SpeedFam-IPEC Inc., Chandler, AZ, has hired SCH/Asian Power Technology Inc. (APTI) to represent it in China. APTI will sell SpeedFam-IPEC's portfolio of CMP equipment throughout China and will also provide tech support as well as spare parts and consumables stocking.
KEC Corp., Korea, a transistor producer, plans to set up a fab in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province of China. KEC will invest $25 million to build the plant, which will produce 20,000 5-in. wafers/month.