Japanese chip market expected to grow
02/01/1999
Japanese chip market expected to grow
The Japanese chip market is at first expected to fall to 3.37 trillion yen for 1998, down 13.3% from a year earlier, but then rise for the next three years (see table), according to the Electronics Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ). The international semiconductor market was estimated at $122.23 billion for
calendar 1998, down 10.9% from 1997.
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Mattson Technology, Fremont, CA, a supplier of process equipment, has formed Mattson Singapore Pte. Ltd., a direct sales and service operation serving Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and China. Mattson Singapore will be initially located at the offices of Aneric, the firm`s former sales and service representative for the region. Former Aneric employees handling Mattson customers have joined Mattson Singapore.In addition, Hitachi Nippon Steel Semiconductor Singapore Pte. Ltd. (HNS), has ordered multiple Aspen rapid thermal processing (RTP) systems from Mattson. HNS, a joint venture between Hitachi, Nippon Steel, and the Government of Singapore, will use the systems at its Singapore fabrication facility for advanced processing on 200-mm wafers. Mattson has also sold five Aspen RTP systems to Marubeni Solutions Ltd., Tokyo, for use on current and next-generation DRAM, SRAM, flash, microprocessor, and logic devices.
While still seeking a reduction in 300-mm processing costs, NEC Corp. is gelling its 300-mm fab plans, and now expects to establish its first 300-mm production line at NEC Kyushu, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu Island in 2002. The project will be followed by the chipmaker`s $1.4 billion plan to build a 300-mm facility in Roseville, CA. Current plans call for that facility to also come online sometime in 2002. Initial work on the Roseville project has begun, and the fab will use a 0.15-?m process and produce 256-Mbit and 1-Gbit DRAMs, and system-on-chip devices.
Kawasaki Steel, Tokyo, plans to spend about 10 billion yen ($81 million) to build a wafer processing facility in Utsuno-miya, Tochigi Prefecture, for 0.18-?m device development. The facility will be built adjacent to Kawasaki`s existing 0.25-?m facility at its Utsunomiya semiconductor plant. Current timeframes call for construction to be completed by the summer of 2000. In addition, Kawasaki
is considering spending 8 billion yen on several tools for 0.18-?m ASIC designing.
Three-Five Systems Inc., Tempe, AZ, is building a 54,000-ft2 liquid crystal display (LCD) production facility in Beijing, China. The $4.4 million plant, which will employ 1000 technical and assembly employees, will house manufacturing, design, sales, and service of advanced LCD modules for a worldwide market. From a temporary 27,000-ft2 facility adjacent to the new building, Three-Five has shipped its first production-volume LCD modules. The new products are cellular telephone graphics displays.