Time to make hay
06/01/2001
There's no time like the present to plan for the future—especially in a downturn. That's the philosophy of current industry leaders who history eventually will refer to as "progressive," or "revolutionary."
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Even though the semiconductor "downturn" continues to cast a pall over contamination control's most demanding market, the savvy chip makers continue to break ground on new fabs, news of retrofits and expansions fill the newswires and analysts report that the semi industry has certainly not stopped spending money on new technologies. As usual, the mighty are making hay.
Securities firm SG Cowen told CleanRooms this month that spending on 300 mm equipment will account for close to 21 percent of the total microelectronics capital spending budget, or $7 billion to $8 billion, in 2001 (see "Semi sales continue their downward spiral," page 4).
Infineon's 300 mm guru, Peter Kuecher, drove this point home at a press conference at SEMICON Europa in Munich at the end of April. "Through continued cooperation with, and between, tool makers, we continue to develop the technology we need and push ahead with all of our 300 mm plans," says Kuecher, who has been overseeing the construction of Infineon's famed 300 mm effort in Dresdon, Germany. The plant was reported "ready for tools" by April 1. We'll keep an eye on the Dresdon fab's progress and its cutting-edge contamination control parameters as they develop.
While I made my way around Europa, I heard an upbeat tone from cleanroom technology suppliers, even though news that Texas Instruments and STMicroelectronics, among others, put a freeze on all trade show travel was the "buzz" as the show opened its doors.
Sure, there were times you could roll a bowling ball down the aisle and not hit a soul, however cleanroom suppliers were quick to comment that the quality of the traffic was considerably higher than in years past. "These are the mavericks, these are the companies that are coming out ahead," one cleanroom consumable supplier told me toward the end of Europa's final day. "It's slow, but when it's busy it translates into good business." SEMI's at-show report had Europa's pre-show registration up 1,071 from last year to 7,586.
It's easy to be carried away by the "bad news." But it's also time to reassess where you and your company stand on the "maverick" scale. If you need a little push, read Dick Matthews' Guest Editorial (below).
Michael Levans
Chief Editor