04/12/2002  Toshiba Corp., Tokyo, Japan, said it will dissolve in September three US chip subsidiaries following its decision late last year to completely withdraw from the commodity-grade DRAM business.

04/12/2002  Three of the world's top 10 chipmakers - STMicroelectronics, Motorola, and Philips - have signed a memorandum of understanding to create a comprehensive alliance dedicated to breakthrough semiconductor technology development. Their joint investment will total $1.4 billion by 2005.

04/10/2002  Veldhoven, Netherlands - ASML has entered the market for atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology through an exclusive technology licensing agreement with Integrated Process Systems (IPS).

04/10/2002  Taipei, Taiwan - Taiwanese chipmakers have organized large-scale recruitment fairs to find talented specialists for its recovering business.

04/10/2002  April 10, 2002 - Hsinchu, Taiwan - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) wants to make sure it is keeping pace in the race to improve manufacturing technology. But slowing down also might be a good idea, one of its senior officials said.

04/09/2002  April 9, 2002 - Ottawa, Canada, and Hsinchu, Taiwan - ATMOS Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) have agreed to develop, verify, and qualify ATMOS SoC-RAM CMOS embedded memory on TSMC's Nexsys 90nm process technology.

04/09/2002  International SEMATECH, Austin, TX, has placed the first purchase order for an MS-13 EUV Microstepper, to be built by Exitech, Oxford, England, and installed in SEMATECH's Resist Test Center.

04/09/2002  April 9, 2002 - Durham, NC - Cree Inc. plans to open a Japan office in Tokyo to bring Cree's technology and engineering support closer to the Japanese customer.

04/08/2002  April 8, 2002 - China - South Korea-based Jusung Engineering and China's Zongyi Group are to establish a joint venture named Jusung Nantong Technology Co. Ltd. in Jiangsu province.

04/05/2002  April 5, 2002 - Taipei, Taiwan - United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) has called off a deal involving the sale of its 200mm wafer equipment to a chip-equipment broker, citing mounting demand for chips that use 0.25- and 0.35-micron technology.

04/04/2002  April 4, 2002 - Jupiter, FL - Photronics Inc. has acquired an additional 859,730 shares, or 28% interest, in PKL Co. Ltd. in Korea.

04/04/2002  April 4, 2002 - Santa Clara, CA - LTD Ceramics Inc., a manufacturer of technical ceramic materials and components, said that Applied Materials has failed in its attempt to obtain a preliminary injunction against the company.

04/04/2002  Taipei, Taiwan - Mainland Chinese chipmakers are accelerating expansion plans and slashing foundry prices to preempt challenges from Taiwan's top two chipmakers, which are expected to move part of their 200mm wafer facilities to the mainland.

04/04/2002  April 3, 2002 - East Fishkill, NY, and Tokyo, Japan - IBM, Sony Corp., Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., and Toshiba Corp. have signed a multi-year agreement to jointly develop advanced semiconductor technologies based on SOI and other IBM materials advances.

04/02/2002  It's widely acknowledged that 2002 will be essentially flat for the equipment industry, with real recovery later in the second half. But, those in the field are already seeing some early signs of life.

04/02/2002  April 2, 2002 - Micronas, the Germany-based IC developer, and Taiwanese foundry UMC have announced the first-pass silicon success of the DPS 9450 video controller chip.

04/02/2002  Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. has raised its capex for this year by more than US$400 million in light of strengthening demand for ICs.

04/01/2002  April 1, 2002 -- HSINCHU, Taiwan -- An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale rocked Taiwan over the weekend. However, the quake registered 4 where many of the foundries are located in Hsinchu.

04/01/2002  DuPont Photomasks Inc., Round Rock, TX, and Schott Lithotec AG, Jena, Germany, have announced that Schott Lithotec USA Corp., has acquired DuPont Photomasks' photoblank business unit in a deal worth up to $42 million.

04/01/2002  Optical collimation improves capabilities for Au/Pd/Ni films