Shinkawa Ltd.

11/01/1996

Wire bond equipment supplier Shinkawa Ltd. in Japan has entered a strategic relationship with flip chip company Research Devices Inc. (RDI), Piscataway, NJ. Under the agreement, Shinkawa will purchase a minority interest in RDI, which could be around 49% or even 50%, according to Vicky Saba, VP of marketing. RDI management will remain intact. The alliance will enable RDI to expand its activity in the emerging Japanese flip chip market and utilize Shinkawa`s experience in automated production equipment. Because Shinkawa is a supplier of automated die and wire bonding equipment, Saba says that "the experience in the automated production equipment would enhance the research devices and flip chip technology and form a much stronger force in the semiconductor assembly equipment market," she commented.