World News
08/01/2003
BUSINESS TRENDS
Capital spending to increase 15% this year
Modest sequential growth, weighted toward the end of the year, will provide an overall 15% increase in capital spending this year, according to market research firm IC Insights.
The company forecasts that 2003 growth rates for the IC industry and semiconductor capital spending will be very similar, and it will take a strong 2H03 to reach the 15% capital-spending increase. This assumes that the PC upgrade cycle will begin in 4Q03, when fab capacity utilization will reach 90% or higher, spurring capacity buys. It also assumes that SARS will be under control by 3Q03, and that its main effect will be a reduction in tourism. Signs are already present that this is occurring, according to IC Insights. The 15% increase in the IC market presumes tight capacity will prompt a 4% increase in average selling price on top of 11% unit growth.
IC Insights paints three scenarios for the remaining quarters of this year. The optimistic scenario would produce a 20% increase in the 2003 IC market and a 25% increase in semiconductor capital spending. The company sees a 10% chance of this happening.
 |
null
The pessimistic scenario would produce only an 8% increase in the IC market and a 5% increase in capital spending. IC Insights sees a 35% chance of this happening.
There is a 55% probability that this quarterly forecast will actually occur, the company says. Sequential growth rates, it predicts, would be 5%, 10%, and 9%, respectively, for 2Q03, 3Q03, and 4Q03. In order for the 15% overall increase in capital spending to occur, 4Q03 would have to be significantly stronger — 9% growth — than the weak 3% growth of 4Q02.
WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS
North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $751 million in orders in May 2003 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.89, according to the May 2003 Express Report published by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (Semi), San Jose, CA. A book-.to-bill of 0.89 means that $89 worth of new orders was received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
The three-month average of worldwide bookings in May 2003 was $751 million. The bookings figure is 1% below the revised April 2003 level of $757 million and 32% below the $1.11 billion in orders posted in May 2002.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in May 2003 was $840 million. The billings figure is even with the revised April 2003 level and 3.5% below the May 2002 billings level of $870 million.
"The outlook for frontend equipment remains sluggish, suggesting a single-digit recovery this year, although some analysts remain hopeful for the possibility of 10–15% billings growth in 2003," said Stanley Myers, president and CEO of Semi. "Conditions are more positive for the test, assembly, and packaging segment, which continues to post modest gains and could experience a double-digit recovery this year."
USA
PDF Solutions has agreed to acquire IDS Software Systems for $50.6 million. The deal will bolster PDF's software offerings for semiconductor plants with IDS' DataPower system, a database for semiconductor fabs that tracks progress and flags areas for improvement.
Vitesse Semiconductor will acquire Multilink Technology, Somerset, NJ, for approximately $22.9 million. Multilink is expected to lay-off about two-thirds of its work force as part of the transaction. Vitesse has plans to bend Multi-link's IP into backplane ICs in order to offer 6–10Gbit/sec speeds across the backplane.
Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Lehigh Valley, PA, and Nanotechnologies Inc., Austin, TX, have signed a joint development agreement. Air Products has also agreed to an equity investment in Nanotechnologies to further development efforts in its Performance Materials Division.
ASML MaskTools, Santa Clara, CA, has signed a deal to license its software for use in Nanya Technology Corp.'s semiconductor production facilities. Nanya will use ASML's MaskRigger and Scattering Bar technology on its photomasks to improve image quality in the design patterns transferred from mask to wafer.
Mykrolis, Billerica, MA, and Nor-Cal, San Diego, CA, have agreed to distribute each other's chamber critical measurement and control technologies. The companies will combine Mykrolis' XacTorr capacitance diaphragm gauge and Nor-Cal's Intellisys downstream pressure control valves and controllers to increase wafer throughput.
Veeco has purchased the atomic force microscope (AFM) probe business of NanoDevices Inc., Santa Barbara, CA. The addition bolsters Veeco's existing AFM technologies.
ASIAFOCUS
China
TSMC, Hsinchu, Taiwan, plans to invest $898 million in a new 8-in. wafer fab plant in Shanghai, China. The plant, to be built in the Songjiang district, will start at a small-scale production of 40,000 wafers/month
Japan
Fujifilm Microdevices Co. has agreed to buy an 8-in. silicon wafer production line from Tohoku Semiconductor Corp., a Motorola subsidiary in Sendai, Japan. Fujifilm Micro will use the line to help it boost output of charge-coupled devices used in digital cameras. Tohoku, which had shut down the line last December amid sagging demand, will continue its remaining line for 6-in. wafers.
Sony Corp., Tokyo, announced plans to spend $4.27 billion (¥500 billion) over the next three years on semiconductor capital investments and R&D. The funding will focus on processors based on CELL technology jointly developed with IBM Corp. and Toshiba Corp., and on organic electroluminescent and field effect displays.
Korea
Hynix Semiconductor has signed a contract to supply production support for On Semiconductor's power management products. The contract will last through 2005 with options to renew.
The South Korean government said it will take the US Department of Commerce (US DOC) decision to impose nearly 45% tariffs on imports from Hynix Semiconductor Inc. to the World Trade Organization. The case will now move to the International Trade Commission, which is expected to make a final ruling on July 29 as to whether Hynix's exports of DRAM chips caused material injury to the DRAM industry. The South Korean government estimates that the ruling by the US DOC will reduce Korean DRAM exports by about $100 million.
GPD Global has formed an alliance with Partech Corp., a distributor in Korea. Partech will provide support to customers in the electronics assembly and high-density interconnect industries.
Malaysia
Feinfocus, a manufacturer of high-resolution x-ray inspection equipment based in Stamford, CT, has formed a partnership with MySem, a division under MIMOS Berhad, an R&D institution in Malaysia. MySem recently installed a Feinfocus 0.20 x-ray inspection system in its failure analysis lab to analyze interconnect materials, construction, and defects for microelectronics applications. MySem also offers failure analysis services with the same system.
Taiwan
Formosa Advanced Technologies Co., Taipei, will expand its business for packaging and testing consumer ICs and memory IC modules this year. Formosa will add IC packaging and testing equipment based on 12-in. wafers this year, and establish a production line of memory IC modules, with completion scheduled for 3Q03.
Formosa Komatsu Silicon Corp., a wafer-manufacturing joint venture between Formosa Plastics Corp., Taiwan, and Japan's Komatsu Electronic Metals Co., have announced plans to build a new 12-in. semiconductor wafer plant. The companies plan to invest approximately $288 million in the new facility, expected to be built in Taiwan's Mailiao township by early next year.
Winbond Electronics Corp. will build a new 12-in. wafer plant in central Taiwan. The plant, to be built within the next two years, will produce flash memory chips and other products, and is not for DRAM chips, the company said. Unconfirmed local reports have pegged the investment at roughly $1 billion.
UMC, Taipei, has unveiled new strained silicon technology using wafers built on substrate technology from AmberWave Systems, Salem, NH. The process aims to enhance CMOS performance with more than 20% current-driving capability on a 70nm strained silicon transistor, with a speed enhancement of over 10% on a test circuit.
Winstek Semiconductor Corp. and assembly company Orient Semiconductor Electronics (OSE) have signed an agreement to jointly offer assembly and test services to the local Taiwanese semiconductor market. Under the agreement, Winstek will provide wafer probe and final test to OSE customers, while OSE will support Winstek customers with packaging services.
EUROFOCUS
SUSS Microtec, Munich, Germany, has introduced a new line of lithography technologies for use in wafer-level packaging, MEMS, and optoelectronics. Collectively called SupraYield, the set is designed to expose the entire wafer in one step, increasing throughput and reducing costs for lithography systems.
Aixtron, Aachen, Germany, a manufacturer of equipment for compound semiconductors, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from the Taiwanese government to set up a research and development center. The three-year project will focus on technologies, including sub-100nm CMOS, LED materials, high-k dielectrics, and nanotechnology.
Veeco Instruments, Woodbury, NY, and Schott Lithotech, Jena, Germany, have signed an agreement to develop advanced photomask technologies. Under the deal, Schott will provide materials and process technology for next-generation photomask blanks, and Veeco will offer expertise in low-defect ion beam deposition.
ON Semiconductor, Phoenix, AZ, says that it will merge two of its units in the Czech Republic, Tesla Sezam and Terosil, by the end of the year. Terosil, the largest producer of semiconductors in the Czech Republic, supplies a major part of its output to Tesla Sezam, which produces semiconductor components and integrated circuits.
Royal Philips Electronics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, says that it will unveil a new mobile processor next year to compete with Intel, TI, and Motorola. The Nexia mobile multimedia processor will power Sony Ericsson's P800 smart phone, which combines a handheld computer, camera, Internet, and other features with a standard cell phone.