Semi sales sag to $10.49B; IC book-to-bill highest this year
11/01/2001
WORLDWIDE HIGHLIGHTS
Semi sales sag to $10.49B; IC book-to-bill highest this year
Worldwide semiconductor sales sagged again for the month of August, falling to $10.49 billion, 3.4% less than July 2001's $10.96 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), San Jose, CA.
Geographically, the Americas saw the biggest decline for August, sliding 55.3% year-over-year to $2.61 billion from the $5.84 billion logged for the same period last year.
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Europe fell 40% for August, logging $2.13 billion compared to the $3.55 billion posted in August 2000. Japan fell 36.2% year-over-year, dropping to $2.58 billion for August, from the $4.05 billion posted in August 2000. The Asia Pacific region saw sales drop 31.7% to $3.17 billion from the August 2000 figure of $4.64 billion.
On a brighter note, VLSI Research, San Jose, CA, reported that the worldwide IC book-to-bill ratio rose to 1.02 for the month of August. That number is a 0.21 increase from July's revised 0.81. This month's figure is the highest book-to-bill reported for 2001.
Worldwide front-end capacity utilization dropped slightly for August, sliding to 75.1% from July's 76.5%. Worldwide IC orders, however, were up for August, climbing 23.9% to $9.21 billion from the $7.49 billion logged in July.
The North American book-to-bill ratio dropped to 0.61 for the month of August, according to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (Semi), San Jose, CA. Semi's Express Report said worldwide bookings for the month totaled $742 million, 3% below the revised July level of $761 million and 75% below the $2.98 billion in orders posted for the same period last year.
USA
Sterling Semiconductor Inc., a subsidiary of Uniroyal Technology Corp., Sarasota, FL, is set to expand its silicon carbide epitaxial and device production capacity at is facility in Tampa, FL. The goal is to significantly accelerate Sterling's epitaxy and device product development.
In other Sterling news, the company received an R&D contract from the US Army for some $746,000. The contract is aimed at developing a unique way of applying epitaxial thin films to silicon carbide substrates. The contract is a Phase II Small Business Innovation and Research award following a successful Phase I completed by Sterling.
Veeco Instruments Inc., Woodbury, NY, has completed its merger with Applied Epi Inc., St. Paul, MN, a supplier of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) equipment used in the manufacture of high-speed compound semiconductor devices for telecommunications, optoelectronic, and wireless markets. Applied Epi received some 4 million shares of Veeco common stock, and $30 million in cash.
Asyst Technologies Inc., Fremont, CA, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Hsinchu, Taiwan, are collaborating on a 300mm fab-transport development project. Asyst and TSMC will team up to expand the capabilities of Asyst's FasTrack automated materials handling system.
Applied Materials, Santa Clara, CA, began recently to reduce its work force by some 2000 positions, or 10%, to address the downturn in the semiconductor industry. About 700 positions at its Silicon Valley operations, and some 500 positions at its Austin, TX, facility will be affected. The remaining positions will be eliminated at other locations by year's end.
In other Applied news, the firm is set to establish its Asia-Pacific warehousing center in Taiwan. The center will supply components of semiconductor production equipment for Applied's customers in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and mainland China. Applied Materials Taiwan Ltd., the company's Taiwan subsidiary, is responsible for planning and executing the project. The warehouse center will be set up in 2002.
Applied also will open a 280,000 ft2 facility in Danvers, MA, to expand production of its ion implantation systems. This site adds to Applied's ion implant manufacturing operations in Horsham, England.
EKC Technology, a ChemFirst Inc. company, is moving its corporate headquarters to Danville, CA, from Hayward, CA. EKC relocated its senior corporate management for sales, marketing, R&D, accounting, and HR to the new facility, making more room for manufacturing and R&D in the complex in Hayward.
A new research center focusing on developing the next generation of computer technology will be built at Purdue University with a $30 million gift from a Chicago business leader. The Birck Nanotechnology Center on the West Lafayette, IN, campus will anchor the research complex. Construction will begin next summer. The $30 million is a gift from chairman and co-founder of Tellabs Inc., Michael Birck, and his wife, Katherine. A major feature of the center will be 14,000-ft2 of cleanrooms. The facility will also be controlled for temperature and vibration fluctuations that can hamper processing.
Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA, is reducing its work force by 10% worldwide — in conjunction with other cost-cutting measures — in an attempt to lower operating expenses. The other measures include companywide shutdown days, voluntary pay reductions, and employee furloughs.
Silicon Perspective Corp., (SPC) Santa Clara, CA, has joined the semiconductor supply-chain consortium X Initiative. SPC is a full-chip silicon virtual prototyping company, making it the first physical-design software firm to join the consortium. X Initiative promotes technology using diagonal wiring on chips, or X Architecture.
PRI Automation, Billerica, MA, is reorganizing operations into two divisions. Automation Systems will focus on the automation needs of semiconductor manufacturers, and OEM Systems will serve the wafer-handling automation requirements of semiconductor capital equipment suppliers.
United Microelectronics Co. (UMC), Taipei, Taiwan, has signed a five-year wafer foundry agreement with Conexant Systems Inc., Newport Beach, CA. UMC will provide Conexant with a guaranteed level of commutations chip foundry capacity, using CMOS manufacturing process technology. Conexant will focus only on the design and marketing of new wireless communications and broadband products.
Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Lehigh Valley, PA, and SC Fluids Inc., Nashua, NH, are joining forces to complete the development of supercritical carbon dioxide as an efficient photoresist stripping agent for semiconductor wafers. As part of the agreement, Air Products will install a SC Fluids supercritical CO2 cleaning tool at its Allentown, PA, R&D center in early 2002.
IBM, Armonk, NY, is in the final stages of negotiations with SCI Systems Inc., Huntsville, AL, to sell its Japanese unit's electronic parts factory. After selling the division to SCI, IBM plans to outsource the design and manufacturing of electronic circuit boards used for PCs to SCI.
Rockwell Automation, Milwaukee, WI, plans to eliminate 750 jobs worldwide due to the decline in demand in industrial automation markets. The company expects to save some $50 million in FY02, after taking into account the costs associated with strategic investments in expanded offerings.
Designer and manufacturer of high-voltage ICs, Clare Inc., Beverly, MA, and analog and mixed-signal IC firm Linear Dimensions Inc., have penned a product licensing and services agreement to design, develop, and market high-voltage linear amplifier products. Clare has licensed Linear Dimensions' IP and the two companies will work together on future designs and products.
NanoPierce Technologies Inc., Denver, CO, a developer of proprietary connection technology for microelectronics applications, is adding operational personnel to the Technology Group Facility in Colorado Springs as the WaferPierce production facility nears completion. The company expects operational status at the new facility in January 2002.
Entegris Inc., Chaska, MN, has received ISO 9001 certification at its Gaylord, MN, facility. The facility manufactures fluid handling products including blowmolded and rotomolded chemical containers for the protection and transport of ultrapure, corrosive chemicals.
EUROPE
JSR Corp., Tokyo, Japan, will construct a new facility to be located in the Inter-Leuven Industrial Estate, Leuven, Belgium. The new plant will be capable of producing advanced KrF photosensitive resists.
Production capacity for photoresists will be 200,000 liters/year. Construction was to begin in September 2001, and is to be completed at the end of September 2002.
SEMX Corp., Armonk, NY, has entered into an agreement with Electrovac Fabrikation Elektrotechnischer Spezialaitikel GmbH, Klosterneuburg, Austria, to become the exclusive distributor of Electrovac's hermetic, glass-to-metal-seal packages, as well as its direct bond copper and aluminum silicon carbide substrates.
Samsung Electronics, Seoul, Korea, and Micronas GmbH, Freiburg, Germany, will co-develop chip sets used in next-generation TVs. Samsung will take part in the development work from product definition until completion, including evaluation and approval. Micronas will benefit by securing a steady buyer for its newly designed chips.
STMicroelectronics, Geneva, Switzerland, has signed an agreement with Huawei Technologies, Hong Kong, for the joint development of a silicon chip for subscriber line interface cards in telephone networks. The agreement states that ST and Huawei engineers will jointly develop the chip, which will be manufactured by ST, and used exclusively by Huawei.
ASIA PACIFIC
Air Liquide's subsidiary, Air Liquide Shanghai, and Air Products and Chemicals' subsidiary, Air Products and Chemicals (China) Investment Co., have signed an agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture, Wuxi-Hi-Tech Gases Co. The company will be based in Wuxi. Startup is scheduled for 2H02, and will have an air separation unit with a daily capacity of 430 metric tons of liquid oxygen, nitrogen, and argon.
Intel Corp. has opened a one-stop shop for chip designers, Intel Microelectronics Services, which would manage the chipmaking process from concept to final product. The chip giant will use factories in Asia owned by companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., and will rely in part on its own experience in chip design and project management.
In other Intel news, the chip giant plans to spend $302 million to expand its chip assembly and testing plant in China. The investment will be used to build a new production line for the validation, testing and assembly of Intel 845 chipsets for Pentium 4 processors.
United Microelectronics Corp., Taipei, Taiwan, is in talks with state-owned Shanghai Belling Co., China, for a wafer plant joint venture. UMC would provide 200mm wafer fab equipment in exchange for a 50% stake in the new wafer plant to be built by Shanghai Belling.
Southern Air Products (Guangzhou) Ltd. has completed the construction and startup of South China's liquid production facility located in the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development District in Guangdong Province, China. The facility has the capacity to supply 500 metric tons of gaseous nitrogen/day, and over 330 metric tons of liquid oxygen, nitrogen, and argon on a combined basis for industries in Guangdong Province on a daily basis.
ST Assembly Test Services Ltd. (STATS), Singapore, has signed a technology licensing agreement with Flip Chip Technologies, Milpitas, CA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kulicke & Soffa Industries. The agreement enables STATS to use Flip Chip's proprietary Flex-on-Cap wafer bumping process and redistribution technologies to facilitate the manufacturing of advanced flip chip ICs.
 Japan tool orders slid 20% in July to ¥86 billion. |
JAPAN
Seiko Epson, Tokyo, Japan, and IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, are setting up a joint venture, Yasu Semiconductor Corp. Yasu will have some $134.8 million initial capital, and its production site will be located within IBM Japan's Yasu campus. Yasu Semiconductor will add 300mm silicon wafer capacity.
Shin-Etsu MicroSi, Tokyo, Japan, and Ultratech Stepper, San Jose, CA, will collaborate in evaluating new materials and exposure tools for the MEMS, bump, photonics, and TFH markets. The companies will focus on new leading-edge materials and tools for current and future applications.
Expecting its semiconductor sales to be down 27% this year, Mitsubishi Electric, Tokyo, says it will cut its capital spending budget down to about $500 million, a 60% drop from last year. The cutbacks will delay Mitsubishi's 300mm fab until 2004.