Tag Archives: letter-ap-business

By Natalie Shim, SEMI Korea

As dynamic back-end related technologies such as TSV (Through-Silicon Vias), InFO (Integrated Fan Out), etc., enable electronic devices to downsize with higher performance, the importance of back-end processing is greater than ever. Due to this, more and more customers are requesting “quality control” by tracing raw materials to assembly and packaging companies and the need for a standard is clear.

The Korea Advanced Back-end Factory Integration Task Force, in response to the industry’s demand, has decided to revise SEMI E142-0211 (Reapproved 1016), Specification for Substrate Mapping by adding an assembly and packaging raw materials traceability method.

Standards Chart

The first ballot is open for voting in Cycle 9-2017 (Nov 29 to Dec 29, 2017), and the TF will review the feedback at the next Information and Control Korea Technical Committee Chapter meeting scheduled for February 1, 2018, in conjunction with SEMICON Korea in Seoul, Korea.

Get Involved

SEMI Standards development activities take place throughout the year in all major manufacturing regions. To get involved, join the SEMI International Standards Program at: www.semi.org/standardsmembership.

For more information regarding Korea Advanced Back-end Factory Integration Task Force activities, please contact Natalie Shim at [email protected].

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723, “Renesas”), a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the integration of Intersil Corporation as a legal entity and a new branding policy following the acquisition of Intersil on February 24, 2017. Effective January 1, 2018, Intersil Corporation is expected to operate in the market under the name of Renesas Electronics America Inc. The completion of Renesas’ U.S. entity integration marks a major milestone in the integration process, which remains well on track. As well, the integration process in Japan and Korea is expected to be completed on or about January 1, 2018. The remaining Intersil entities are expected to be integrated in the near future.

“With the integration of the Intersil business, we have taken another significant step towards maximizing the full potential of the combined business, providing scale, stability and a comprehensive product mix,” said Bunsei Kure, Representative Director, President and CEO of Renesas Electronics Corporation. “With the enhanced global strength, Renesas is in the best position to further strengthen its leadership in the global semiconductor market.”

“The promise of the Renesas and Intersil integration has already begun to materialize as we’ve started operating as one company,” said Necip Sayiner, Executive Vice President of Renesas, President of Renesas Electronics America and President, CEO and Director of Intersil. “We are fully combining our portfolios, technologies and talent to maximize the potential of the acquisition synergies. As a result, we are positioned to expand our business in the broad-based market, providing complete system solutions that enable customers to get to market faster.”

As of January 1, 2018, Intersil Corporation is expected to complete an absorption-type merger with Renesas Electronics America Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Renesas, leaving Intersil Corporation as the surviving company. Intersil Corporation will then change its name to Renesas Electronics America Inc.

Prior to this entity integration, Renesas implemented a transition to a new organizational structure in July 2017 to accelerate the integration of the Intersil business. The aim of this transition is to move beyond its Japan-centric business management and to achieve a truly global company that acts as “One Global Renesas,” a company that operates as a global entity.

EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced that it has completed construction and opened a new building at its corporate headquarters in Austria to expand capacity for producing its industry-leading process equipment. The building, part of an investment of more than 20 million Euros that was announced earlier this year, allows for a significant expansion of warehouse space and provides more than 50 percent additional test room space for the final assembly of EVG’s high-precision systems, as well as technical source inspection of the systems by its customers.

“EVG operates in highly dynamic markets, where we always strive to provide our customers with the latest technologies to realize their product ideas with the shortest possible time to market–true to EVG’s Triple-i philosophy of invent-innovate-implement,” stated Dr. Werner Thallner, executive operations and financial director at EV Group. “Our headquarters expansion helps ensure that we continue to deliver on this pledge to our customers. I’m pleased to say that we completed this expansion in record time too, and we already have plans for additional capacity expansion in preparation for future growth.”

The completed building at EV Group's headquarters is part of an investment of more than 20 million Euros to expand the company's production capacity.

The completed building at EV Group’s headquarters is part of an investment of more than 20 million Euros to expand the company’s production capacity.

The new test rooms, which are designed to house larger systems including high-volume manufacturing platforms and solutions for panel-sized substrates, are equipped with the latest air conditioning and cleanroom technology. The ambient conditions created through these measures are similar to those found in the semiconductor fabs or bio-medical labs of EVG’s global customers. The sophisticated security concept at EVG’s headquarters, which extends to the new building complex, enables customers to have controlled access to individual test rooms where the technical source inspection of their tools can take place together with EVG specialists.

Several EVG systems have already been moved to the new facility for final assembly, software installation and initial set-up in order to make more room available for fulfilling additional system orders.

More than 70,000 players in the electronics manufacturing industry are expected to descend upon SEMICON China for technology and innovation insights to accelerate already strong industry growth. March 14-16, 2018, at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), SEMICON China 2018 will bring together top executives and technologists in six exhibition halls, the most ever in the event’s 30-year history, to find opportunities in key focus areas including Smart Automotive and Smart Manufacturing, Green Tech, Advanced Technology, and Power and Compound Semiconductors.

Concurrent with FPD China, SEMICON China 2018, the largest and most influential gathering of the semiconductor supply chain in China, is now open for visitor registration.

SEMICON China technical forums will address the most pressing industry topics:

  • CSTIC 2018: Staged in conjunction with SEMICON China, this has ranked among the largest and most comprehensive annual semiconductor technology conferences in China since 2000. March 11-12, 2018, CSTIC 2018 will feature nine symposiums covering all aspects of semiconductor technology, with a focus on manufacturing and advanced technology.
  • SIIP: Tech Innovation and Investment Forum: SIIP is a key international platform for semiconductor industry investment in China. Informed by China’s IC policy to fund key semiconductor sectors, leaders of China’s National IC Fund and municipal IC funds will join leaders from global investment institutions to discuss hot opportunities in China semiconductor investment – and applications such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).
  • Win-Win: Build China’s IC Ecosystem: Spurred by a strong market outlook, policy and the national fund, fab construction in China will surge over the next five years, with OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) making strategic investments. Industry leaders will explore how China’s semiconductor manufacturing industry will strengthen its core competency, prioritize resources, revisit its business model, and thrive in the electronics ecosystem.
  • Power and Compound Semiconductor International Forum: Among the largest power and compound semiconductor industry forums in Asia, this two-day event features four sessions: Wide Band Gap Power Electronics, Optoelectronics, Compound Semiconductor in Communications, and Emerging Power Device Technology
  • Smart Automotive Forum – AI Inside: Top automotive, electronic, AI and technology executives will gather to discuss the future of the rapidly disrupting automotive industry.
  • China Memory Strategic Forum: Driven by market needs and policy support, three new Chinese Memory foundries are accelerating memory development. Industry leaders will explore ways multinationals can benefit more from China’s memory market, China can better leverage its technical strength, and Chinese companies can enhance research and development collaboration with global partners.
  • Green High-Tech Facility Forum: With more than 10 fabs now under construction in China,China’s semiconductor industry is entering a stage of rapid growth. Green Tech leaders will discuss how China can improve factory design and construction; optimize energy efficiency of semiconductor manufacturing equipment; enhance machine platform stability, chemicals and gas management, and wastewater treatment; and improve risk management.
  • Smart Manufacturing Forum: The semiconductor industry must be proactive in all aspects of smart manufacturing. This session will address automation, product tractability, cost and cycle time reduction, enhancements in productivity and yield, and efficiency improvements in front- and back-end factories.
  • Semiconductor New Technology Conference: The best way to promote new technology is through direct customer interaction and collaboration. Join this conference to discuss your new IC, new IOT solution, new machine or new material with more 200 customers from around the world.
  • 2018 China Display Conference-Emerging Display Forum: Join this forum, concurrent with FPD China 2018, to exchange ideas on emerging display technologies and future development.
  • MSIG International IOT Conference 2018: MEMS, sensors, IC, NB-IoT, 5G and smart application experts will share their insights on the IoT market and how to maximize the value of IoT applications.

SEMICON China also features three theme pavilions:

  • IC Manufacturing: See products, technologies, and manufacturing solutions focused on serving China’s fabless IC community, from design to final manufacturing.
  • LED and Sapphire: Learn how China has become the world’s largest sapphire manufacturing center.
  • ICMTIA: See the local IC material industry demonstrate its capabilities to support semiconductor industry growth.

Tessera Technologies, Inc. (“Tessera”), a subsidiary of Xperi Corporation (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: XPER), today announced that it and certain of its affiliates entered into agreements with Broadcom Ltd. and certain of its affiliates (“Broadcom”), customers, and suppliers to settle and dismiss all pending litigation between them. In conjunction with the settlement, Broadcom entered into a new multi-year patent license agreement with Tessera.

“We are very pleased to have reached this settlement and license agreement with Broadcom,” said Jon Kirchner, CEO of Xperi Corporation. “This agreement validates the strength and breadth of our semiconductor portfolio, and provides us with a clear path to unlock the value of our innovations with other companies in the semiconductor industry.”

“The resolution of our dispute with Broadcom on mutually agreeable terms is a major milestone for Tessera’s IP licensing business. We look forward to a constructive relationship with Broadcom and thank the Broadcom team for their professional approach to reaching this resolution,” said Murali Dharan, president of Tessera.

The license agreement provides for an upfront payment in the fourth quarter of 2017 and recurring quarterly payments beginning in the first quarter of 2018. The other terms of the agreements are confidential.

Tessera and Invensas are subsidiaries of Xperi Corporation (NASDAQ: XPER). Over the past 27 years, research and development at both Tessera and Invensas has led to significant innovations in semiconductor packaging technology, which has been widely licensed and is found in billions of electronic devices globally.

Invensas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Xperi Corporation (“Xperi”) (NASDAQ:XPER), today announced the successful technology transfer of its Direct Bond Interconnect to Teledyne DALSA, a Teledyne Technologies company. This capability enables Teledyne DALSA to deliver next-generation MEMS and image sensor solutions that are more compact and higher performance to customers in the automotive, IoT and consumer electronics markets. Teledyne DALSA is a developer of high performance digital imaging and semiconductors and one of the world’s foremost pure-play MEMS foundries. Invensas and Teledyne DALSA announced the signing of a development license in February 2017.

“In partnership with Invensas, we have successfully completed the transfer of its revolutionary DBI technology to our manufacturing facilities in Bromont,” said Edwin Roks, president of Teledyne DALSA. “We are now ready to offer this enabling platform as part of our foundry services to customers, including our own business lines, seeking smaller, higher performance and more reliable MEMS and imaging solutions.”

“The manufacturing team at Teledyne DALSA has done a fantastic job bringing up our DBI process and is well-positioned to enable a new generation of high performance MEMS and image sensor solutions,” said Craig Mitchell, president of Invensas. “We are excited about the prospects for DBI to be integrated into a wide range of Teledyne DALSA’s branded products as well as those of their foundry customers.”

DBI technology is a low-temperature hybrid wafer bonding solution that allows wafers to be bonded with scalable fine pitch 3D electrical interconnect without requiring bond pressure. The technology is applicable to a wide range of semiconductor devices including MEMS, image sensors, RF front ends and stacked memory. DBI 3D interconnect can eliminate the need for through-silicon vias (TSVs) and reduce die size and cost while enabling pixel level interconnect for future generations of image sensors.

QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK), a developer of ultra-low power multi-core voice-enabled SoCs, embedded FPGA IP, display bridge and programmable logic solutions, announced that it has collaborated with Mentor, a Siemens business, to provide a seamless design and development environment for its embedded FPGA (eFPGA) technology. Specifically, Mentor’s Precision Synthesis software has been optimized to support the QuickLogic ArcticProTM architecture used in the company’s eFPGA IP.

QuickLogic will distribute this new version of Precision Synthesis as part of its Aurora development tool suite to provide high performance synthesis technology to eFPGA designers in their next SoC with embedded FPGA IP. The combination of the two tool sets will deliver a seamless development environment supporting a complete design flow, from RTL to programming bitstream, for the embedded FPGA portion of the design.

The tools from both companies have been tuned for implementation efficiency and design performance to enable the effective targeting of designs to the eFPGA IP. By embedding eFPGA technology, SoC developers gain post-manufacturing design flexibility to support design fixes, upgrades, market variants, and rapidly evolving standards or market requirements.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Mentor to give our customers complete design flow support for our eFPGA technology,” said Mao Wang, director of product marketing at QuickLogic Corporation. “Mentor has done an excellent job in enabling their Precision Synthesis software to generate an optimized synthesis netlist for the QuickLogic ArcticPro-based eFPGA architecture.”

“QuickLogic’s eFPGA IP has the potential to be a transformative technology for our SoC customers, and we are looking forward to delivering an outstanding synthesis solution for their Aurora development tools and a continued growth in our partnership,” said Ellie Burns, director of marketing, Calypto Systems Division at Mentor.

Mentor’s Precision Synthesis and QuickLogic Aurora development tools supporting QuickLogic’s eFPGA technology are both available now from QuickLogic Corporation.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $37.1 billion for the month of October 2017, an increase of 21.9 percent from the October 2016 total of $30.4 billion and 3.2 percent more than last month’s total of $36.0 billion. October marked the global industry’s largest-ever monthly sales total. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. Additionally, the latest WSTS industry forecast was revised upward and now projects annual global market growth of 20.6 percent in 2017 and 7.0 percent in 2018.

“The global semiconductor market continued to grow impressively in October, with sales surpassing the industry’s highest-ever monthly total and moving closer to topping $400 billion for 2017,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Market growth continues to be driven in part by high demand for memory products, but combined sales of all other semiconductor products were up substantially as well, showing the breadth of the market’s strength this year.”

Regionally, year-to-year sales increased in the Americas (40.9 percent), Europe (19.5 percent), China (19.1 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (16.3 percent), and Japan (10.7 percent). Compared with last month, sales were up more modestly across all regions: the Americas (6.8 percent), China (2.6 percent), Europe (2.6 percent), Japan (1.8 percent), and Asia Pacific/All Other (1.5 percent).

Additionally, SIA today endorsed the WSTS Autumn 2017 global semiconductor sales forecast, which projects the industry’s worldwide sales will be $408.7 billion in 2017. This would mark the industry’s highest-ever annual sales, its first time topping $400 billion, and a 20.6 percent increase from the 2016 sales total. WSTS projects double-digit year-to-year increases across all regional markets for 2017: the Americas (31.9 percent), Asia Pacific (18.9 percent), Europe (16.3 percent), and Japan (12.6 percent). Beyond 2017, growth in the semiconductor market is expected to moderate across all regions. WSTS tabulates its semi-annual industry forecast by convening an extensive group of global semiconductor companies that provide accurate and timely indicators of semiconductor trends.

To find out how to purchase the WSTS Subscription Package, which includes comprehensive monthly semiconductor sales data and detailed WSTS Forecasts, please visit http://www.semiconductors.org/industry_statistics/wsts_subscription_package/. For detailed data on the global and U.S. semiconductor industry and market, consider purchasing the 2017 SIA Databook: https://www.semiconductors.org/forms/sia_databook/.

Oct 2017

Billions

Month-to-Month Sales                              

Market

Last Month

Current Month

% Change

Americas

7.99

8.54

6.8%

Europe

3.28

3.37

2.6%

Japan

3.14

3.20

1.8%

China

11.36

11.65

2.6%

Asia Pacific/All Other

10.18

10.33

1.5%

Total

35.95

37.09

3.2%

Year-to-Year Sales                         

Market

Last Year

Current Month

% Change

Americas

6.06

8.54

40.9%

Europe

2.82

3.37

19.5%

Japan

2.89

3.20

10.7%

China

9.78

11.65

19.1%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.88

10.33

16.3%

Total

30.43

37.09

21.9%

Three-Month-Moving Average Sales

Market

May/Jun/Jul

Aug/Sep/Oct

% Change

Americas

6.94

8.54

23.0%

Europe

3.20

3.37

5.1%

Japan

3.04

3.20

5.2%

China

10.68

11.65

9.1%

Asia Pacific/All Other

9.77

10.33

5.8%

Total

33.63

37.09

10.3%

The ConFab 2018, to be held at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on May 21-23, is thrilled to announce the newest opening day Keynote speaker, Professor John M. Martinis. John is a Research Scientist who heads up Google’s Quantum AI Lab. He also holds the Worster Chair of Experimental Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The lab is particularly interested in applying quantum computing to artificial intelligence and machine learning, and as one of Google’s quantum computing gurus, John shared the company’s “stretch goal”. That is to build and test a 49-qubit (“quantum bit”) quantum computer by the end of this year. The test will be a milestone in quantum computer technology.

The conference team is also very excited to have IBM distinguished Engineer, Rama Divakaruni – who is responsible for IBM Advanced Process Technology Research – present his Keynote Address: How Artificial Intelligence is driving the “New” Semiconductor Era. Both Keynotes, set for May 21, promise to be outstanding presentations.

Additional outstanding speakers at The ConFab 2018 include:

  • Dan Armbrust, CEO and Co-founder of Silicon Catalyst will present: “Enabling a Startup Ecosystem for Semiconductors” describing the current environment for semiconductor startups.
  • George Gomba, GLOBALFOUNDRIES VP of Technology Research will discuss the EUV lithography project with SUNY Polytechnic Institute now finding its way into advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
  • John Hu, Director of Advanced Technology for Nvidia – John heads up R&D of Advanced IC Process Technologies and programs, Design For Manufacturing, Testchips, and New technology/ IC product.
  • Tom Sonderman, President of Sky Water Technology Foundry will focus on smart manufacturing ecosystems based on big data platform, predictive analytics and IoT.
  • Kou Kuo Suu of ULVAC Japan will delve into manufacturing various types of NVM memory chips, including Phase-Change memory (PCRAM).

More industry experts adding to the conference will be announced soon.  Further event details are available at: www.theconfab.com.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $2.02 billion in billings worldwide in October 2017 (three-month average basis), according to the October Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide billings of North American equipment manufacturers in October 2017 was $2.02 billion.The billings figure is 1.8 percent lower than the final September 2017 level of $2.05 billion, and is 23.7 percent higher than the October 2016 billings level of $1.63 billion.

“Equipment billings dipped in October, the fourth consecutive monthly decline during this record spending year,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “In spite of this seasonal weakness, we expect equipment spending to increase by 30 percent or more this year and are positive about growth in 2018.”

The SEMI Billings report uses three-month moving averages of worldwide billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.
Billings
(3-mo. avg)
Year-Over-Year
May 2017
$2,270.5
41.8%
June 2017
$2,300.3
34.1%
July 2017
$2,269.7
32.9%
August 2017
$2,181.8
27.7%
September 2017 (final)
$2,054.8
37.6%
October 2017 (prelim)
$2,017.0
23.7%

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), November 2017