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Leveraging significant presence in TSV markets, ALLVIA, Inc. has expanded its capacity into glass and quartz via manufacturing to accommodate customer requests in via-fill technology from silicon interposers to glass and quartz interposers. This will enable next-generation semiconductor 2D and 2.5 D packaging solutions using ultra-thin glass and quartz.

ALLVIA will manufacture ultra-thin glass and quartz interposers using its facility fully equipped for high volume manufacturing of TSV interposers to commercialize the widespread use of interposers. The company will expand its intellectual property from silicon to glass in hole drilling and filling methodologies to fabricate its interposers.

ALLVIA will apply its proprietary technology to fill the high-aspect-ratio via holes with copper plating. ALLVIA’s processes and its production line can produce all types of interposers to achieve the next generation in high-density semiconductor packaging. These 2D and 2.5D interposers are needed to form the electrical connections between a silicon chip and PCBs.

Sergey Savastiouk, CEO, commented:  “Our expansion allows us to solve two problems. First, ALLVIA becomes more flexible with customer requests and, second, ALLVIA can produce more wafers with better quality using state-of-the-art for copper plating, chemical mechanical polishing, deep via thin film deposition.”

Ultratech, Inc., a supplier of lithography, laser­ processing and inspection systems used to manufacture semiconductor devices and high-brightness LEDs (HBLEDs), as well as atomic layer deposition (ALD) systems, today announced that it has received a multiple-system, follow-on order from a leading semiconductor manufacturer for its advanced packaging AP300 lithography systems. The AP300 systems will be utilized for high-volume, fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP) applications used to manufacture leading-edge chips.  Ultratech will begin shipping the additional systems in the second quarter of this year to the customer’s facility in Asia.

Ultratech General Manager and Vice President of Lithography Products Rezwan Lateef stated, “Fan-out technologies continue to be regarded as the optimal solution for the highly-demanding mobile and wireless markets. While traditional 3D techniques, such as TSV, are still too expensive for industry-wide adoption, FOWLP is being leveraged as a cost-effective packaging solution that delivers excellent performance and a small form factor. Ultratech’s application-specific options for FOWLP lithography provide superior results to meet the challenges of fan-out wafer processing, such as die surface-to-mold non-planarity, die misalignment and wafer warpage. This follow-on order further confirms our technology leadership and the value proposition of our AP300 systems over full-field 1X scanners and reduction steppers. As we continue to build on our relationship with this valued customer, we look forward to supporting their aggressive technology roadmap which includes the utilization of interposers for high-end processors.”

Ultratech’s AP300 family of lithography steppers

The AP300 family of lithography systems is built on Ultratech’s customizable Unity Platform, delivering superior overlay, resolution and side wall profile performance and enabling highly-automated and cost-effective manufacturing. These systems are particularly well suited for copper pillar, fan-out, through-silicon via (TSV) and silicon interposer applications. In addition, the platform has numerous application-specific product features to enable next-generation packaging techniques, such as Ultratech’s award winning dual-side alignment (DSA) system, utilized around the world in volume production.

Power transistors—the $12 billion growth engine in the $21 billion discrete semiconductor market—have faced a choppy uphill climb since surging in the 2010 recovery from the 2008 2009 economic recession. Worldwide revenues for power transistors continue to increase by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 4%, but sales in the largest discretes product category have fallen in three out of the last five years because of ongoing economic uncertainty and quick cancellation of purchase orders by systems makers whenever they see signs of demand weakening for end-use electronic products, says IC Insights’ 2016 O-S-D Report—A Market Analysis and Forecast for Optoelectronics, Sensors/Actuators, and Discretes.

After dropping 7% in 2015 to $12.3 billion, power transistor sales are expected to stabilize and begin a modest recovery in 2016, growing by a little over 1% to $12.4 billion, according to the latest edition of IC Insights’ annual O-S-D Report, which contains a detailed five-year forecast of sales, unit shipments, and average selling prices (ASPs) for more than 30 individual product types and device categories in optoelectronics, sensors/actuators, and discretes. The 360-page report shows power transistor sales slowly regaining strength in the next few years, rising 3% in 2017 to $12.8 billion followed by 5% growth in 2018 to about $13.5 billion, which will match the current annual peak set in 2011 (Figure 1).

Between 2015 and 2020, power transistor sales are projected to grow by a CAGR of 3.9% to $14.8 billion in the final year of the 2016 O-S-D Report’s forecast.  The annual growth rate in the second half of this decade essentially matches the CAGR of 4.0% recorded in the last 10 years (2005-2015), but IC Insights anticipates much less volatility in the power transistor market because worldwide demand will continue to climb for greater energy efficiency in data center computers, industrial systems, home appliances, battery-operated portable electronics, automobiles, and the explosion of connections to the Internet of Things (IoT).  Worldwide shipments of power transistors are now forecast to rise by a CAGR of 6.5%, reaching 71.1 billion units in 2020 compared to about 52.0 billion in 2015.

power transistors

Among the power transistor product categories, sales growth is expected to be the strongest in high voltage field-effect transistors (FETs) and insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules during the second half of this decade. The 2016 O-S-D Report shows sales of high-voltage (over 200V) FETs growing by a CAGR of 4.7% to $2.4 billion in 2020 while IGBT modules are expected to increase by an annual rate of 4.0% to $3.2 billion in five years.  Other projected 2015-2020 CAGR growth rates for power transistor product categories are: 3.7% for low-voltage FETs (under 200V) to $5.6 billion; 3.8% for discrete IGBT transistors to $1.1 billion; and 3.1% for bipolar junction transistors to $886 million in 2020.

Amkor Technology Inc., a provider of semiconductor packaging and test services, today announced it has received the Supplier of the Year award from Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, for its performance in 2015. Qualcomm Technologies’ Supplier of the Year award recognizes a key supplier that demonstrates the highest on-time delivery, quality and customer service performance throughout the calendar year. Qualcomm Technologies recognized Amkor for its significant contributions in providing packaging and test support for premium-tier mobile communications products.

“We are honored to receive Qualcomm Technologies’ Supplier of the Year award,” said Steve Kelley, Amkor’s president and chief executive officer. “Amkor is fully committed to providing the advanced packaging and test services and superior customer experience that meet the stringent requirements set by Qualcomm Technologies. This award is recognition of the close collaboration between our two companies and the outstanding commitment shown by our teams worldwide.”

“Qualcomm Technologies congratulates Amkor on winning the 2015 Supplier of the Year award,” said Roawen Chen, senior vice president of global operations, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “This award acknowledges Amkor’s performance improvements in all major areas, including on-time delivery, quality, customer service and strategic business support. Amkor is an important supplier and was instrumental to our success in the premium tier of the mobile communications ecosystem. We look forward to Amkor becoming a more important supplier in our supply chain strategy.”

EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced that, for the fourth successive year, it has earned all three awards resulting from VLSIresearch Inc.’s annual Customer Satisfaction Survey. For 2016, EVG was ranked as one of the 10 BEST Focused Chip Making Equipment Suppliers, having steadily increased its overall ratings since 2013. EVG was also cited as one of THE BEST Suppliers of Fab Equipment and received a RANKED 1st award in Specialty Fab Equipment.

According to VLSIresearch, EVG excelled in the supplier performance categories, which include trust in supplier, technical leadership, recommended supplier, partnering and commitment. Moreover, EVG scored well across the board, increasing its scores in eight of the 15 total categories. The milestones in this year’s rankings continue: 2016 is the 14th consecutive year that EVG has been listed among “THE BEST” suppliers, and the fourth year in which EVG was the highest ranked supplier of wafer bonding equipment.

“EVG continues to rank highly and grow its position on our annual survey, thanks to its strong, global customer-focused strategy,” noted G. Dan Hutcheson, VLSIresearch CEO and chairman. “The company’s approach integrates an emphasis on high-volume manufacturing with its long-running commitment to technology invention, innovation and implementation. The results of our annual survey exemplify EVG’s continued success in delivering leading wafer bonding and lithography solutions.”

Hermann Waltl, executive sales and customer support director at EV Group, stated, “Ensuring our customers’ success is paramount to EVG’s business. Receiving recognition from our customers with these three coveted awards for the fourth year in a row is a true honor, and we thank them for their participation in VLSIresarch’s annual customer satisfaction survey. We look forward to continuing not only to meet but to exceed their requirements through a comprehensive approach of providing leading-edge technology, extensive process technology teams and world-class development and production services around the globe.”

ams acquires CCMOSS


June 16, 2016

ams, a manufacturer of high performance sensor and analog solutions, has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Cambridge CMOS Sensors Ltd (CCMOSS), a developer of micro hotplate structures for gas sensing and infrared applications, in an all-cash transaction.

CCMOSS’ micro hotplates are MEMS structures that are used in gas sensors for volume applications in the automotive, industrial, medical, and consumer markets. The company’s deep expertise in this area is highly synergetic with ams’ technology leadership in MOX gas sensing materials to detect gases like CO, NOx, and VOCs. CCMOSS’ manufactures these MEMS structures on CMOS wafers allowing the creation of complete monolithically integrated CMOS sensor ICs. This makes CCMOSS’ solutions highly cost-efficient, besides offering other significant advantages over competing technologies like low power consumption, small footprint and the ability to integrate additional sensor modalities like relative humidity, temperature, and pressure.

In addition, CCMOSS commands a portfolio of IR technology comprising high performance IR radiation sources and detectors for sensor applications. Highly complementary to ams’ spectral sensing strategy for next generation optical sensor technologies, CCMOSS’ IR sensing is based on the same monolithic CMOS structures as for gas sensing, enabling miniaturized implementations and efficient integration with other on-chip functions. Applications include CO2 gas sensing and human presence detection and will extend into spectroscopic identification of organic materials.

Founded in 2008 as a spin-off from Cambridge University, with the start of technology development dating back to 1994 in collaboration with the University of Warwick, CCMOSS has built an outstanding expertise in micro hotplate design and manufacturing for gas and infrared sensing over more than 20 years. CCMOSS’ corporate headquarters are located in Cambridge, UK, and the company has 33 employees. The Cambridge region has become a center of innovation for sensor technologies globally so ams values the ability to gain direct access to this attractive ecosystem going forward. CCMOSS currently has product revenues on a small scale but is not yet profitable.

The parties to the transaction, which is expected to close within a week given that no regulatory approvals are needed, have agreed to keep the consideration confidential. ams plans to fully integrate CCMOSS’ activities into its existing environmental sensor business, which has development locations in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and Reutlingen, Germany.

Alexander Everke, CEO of ams, commented on the transaction, “The addition of CCMOSS makes ams the clear leader in gas and infrared sensor technology worldwide, and completes ams’ portfolio of products and technologies for the environmental sensor market. This highly strategic acquisition is therefore another key step in making ams the world’s leading provider of sensor solutions for consumer, automotive, industrial, and medical applications.”

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic parts affiliate of Samsung Group, is preparing to dive into the integrated circuit packaging industry, according to news reports on Monday.

Joining hands with Samsung Electronics, the electronic components firm will likely plan to win new supply contracts of chips for smartphone makers, including U.S.-based Apple.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics will transform Samsung Displays two liquid crystal display assembly lines in Cheonnan into ones for IC packaging.

The Samsung Group affiliate will package power management ICs, which control the flow of electricity, by utilizing Fan-out Wafer Level Package (FoWLP) technology

Such technology is said to have played a core role in Taiwanese chip maker TSMC winning a deal to supply its chips for Apple’s next flagship smartphone. It enables chip makers to pack multiple chips in one package, a technology often dubbed as system in package.

The workforces of Samsung Electronics system LSI — a division in charge of producing non-memory chips — and Samsung Electro-Mechanics will join the project to launch the IC packing business.

Following a series of tests, the IC packaging factories will go into full operation in the first half of next year.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) this week announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $25.8 billion for the month of April 2016, a decrease of 1.0 percent from last month’s total of $26.1 billion and 6.2 percent lower than the April 2015 total of $27.6 billion. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. Additionally, a new WSTS industry forecast projects decreased annual semiconductor sales in 2016, followed by slight market growth in 2017 and 2018.

“Global semiconductor sales decreased marginally in April, continuing a recent trend of market sluggishness driven by soft demand and a range of macroeconomic headwinds,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Despite a cumulative decrease across all product categories, year-to-year sales of microprocessors and analog products increased modestly, perhaps foreshadowing stronger sales ahead. The latest industry forecast suggests global sales may indeed rebound somewhat in the second half of 2016, but still fall short of last year’s total. The global market is projected to grow slightly in 2017 and 2018.”

Regionally, year-to-year sales increased in Japan (2.2 percent) and China (0.3 percent), but decreased in Asia Pacific/All Other (-8.2 percent), Europe (-8.6 percent), and the Americas (-14.8 percent). Compared with last month, sales were up slightly Japan(0.2 percent) and Asia Pacific/All Other (0.1 percent), but down in Europe (-0.8 percent), China (-1.8 percent), and the Americas (-2.2 percent).

Additionally, SIA today endorsed the WSTS Spring 2016 global semiconductor sales forecast, which projects the industry’s worldwide sales will be $327.2 billion in 2016, a 2.4 percent decrease from the 2015 sales total. WSTS projects year-to-year decreases across all regional markets for 2016: Europe (-0.1 percent), Asia Pacific (-1.2 percent), Japan (-1.7 percent), and the Americas (-7.3 percent). On the positive side, WSTS predicts growth in 2016 for several semiconductor product categories, including discretes, analog, and MCU products.

Beyond 2016, the semiconductor market is expected to grow at a modest pace across all regions. WSTS forecasts 2.0 percent growth globally for 2017 ($333.7 billion in total sales) and 2.2 percent growth for 2018 ($340.9 billion). 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.

April 2016

Billions

Month-to-Month Sales                               

Market

Last Month

Current Month

% Change

Americas

4.89

4.78

-2.2%

Europe

2.66

2.64

-0.8%

Japan

2.59

2.60

0.2%

China

7.93

7.79

-1.8%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.02

8.03

0.1%

Total

26.09

25.84

-1.0%

Year-to-Year Sales                          

Market

Last Year

Current Month

% Change

Americas

5.61

4.78

-14.8%

Europe

2.89

2.64

-8.6%

Japan

2.54

2.60

2.2%

China

7.77

7.79

0.3%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.74

8.03

-8.2%

Total

27.56

25.84

-6.2%

Three-Month-Moving Average Sales

Market

Nov/Dec/Jan

Feb/Mar/Apr

% Change

Americas

5.41

4.78

-11.7%

Europe

2.70

2.64

-2.4%

Japan

2.49

2.60

4.3%

China

8.42

7.79

-7.4%

Asia Pacific/All Other

7.87

8.03

2.0%

Total

26.89

25.84

-3.9%

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IC Insights has just released the Update to its 2016 IC Market Drivers Report that examines and evaluates key existing and emerging end-use applications that will support and propel the IC industry through 2019.

In 2015 and early 2016, there were numerous reports of slowing in the Chinese smartphone market. Since most of the Chinese smartphone producer’s sales are to Chinese customers, this slowdown became evident in some of their 2015 and 1Q16 smartphone sales figures.  For example, China-based Coolpad’s smartphone sales dropped by 44% in 2015 to only 25.5 million units.  Moreover, Xiaomi, a real “high-flyer” in smartphone sales in 2013 and 2014 saw its growth slow to 16% last year.  While a 16% growth rate is still very commendable, its sales of about 71 million smartphones last year was well below the company’s earlier stated goal of shipping 100 million smartphones in 2015.

Figure 1 depicts actual 1Q16 smartphone unit sales by the top 12 companies with a forecast for their full-year 2016 unit volume shipments.  As shown, eight of the top 12 companies are headquartered in China with an Indian company (Micromax) making the list for the first time.   Gionee, a China-based smartphone supplier, just missed making the 1Q16 top 12 ranking after shipping 4.8 million handsets in the quarter.

IC Insights believes that there will be very little middle ground with regard to smartphone shipment growth rates among the top 12 suppliers this year.  As shown, seven of the top twelve companies are forecast to register 2016 growth rates of 6% or less while the other five companies are expected to each log 29% or better increases.  Further illustrating the maturing of the smartphone market, the top two suppliers, Samsung and Apple, are each forecast to show a slight decline in smartphone shipments this year.

Three companies are expected to drop out of the top 12 ranking this year as compared to 2015—Japan-based Sony, U.S.-based Microsoft, and China-based Coolpad.  These three companies saw their 1Q16 sales of smartphones drop to 3.4, 2.3, and 4.0 million, respectively.  Although Microsoft announced it intends to sell its non-smartphone business later this year, its early 2016 Lumia smartphones shipments put it on a path to sell less than 15 million units in 2016.

chinese ic suppliers fig 1

Figure 1

Additional details on the cellphone IC market are included in the 2016 Update of IC Insights’ IC Market Drivers—A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits. This report examines the largest, existing system opportunities for ICs and evaluates the potential for new applications that are expected to help fuel the market for ICs through the end of this decade.

The SEMI High Tech U learning program commenced April 20-22 in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Co-hosted by SEMI, KLA-Tencor Taiwan, and National Tsing Hua University, the three-day event offered 40 high school students an in-depth interactive learning experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Since SEMI High Tech U began in 2001, it has hosted 190 career exploration programs in eight different countries with over 6,000 high school students attending. The High Tech U programs have received a tremendous response globally.

This year, Taiwan was a host country for the first time. Terry Tsao, president of SEMI Taiwan, said, “The goal of High Tech U is to help young people gain knowledge and develop interests in STEM before choosing their future academic pursuit. Not only did Taiwanese high school students have the opportunity to attend this international STEM immersion program, but they also interacted with industry volunteers who serve in the high-tech industry.” Through group activities and firsthand experience, students thoroughly explored technology, adding to their ability to understand their future career directions.

“In the U.S., KLA-Tencor has collaborated with SEMI to hold seven SEMI HTU (High Tech U) programs. The first-ever Taiwan course design, instructor training, and the local operations planning, were tailored to inspire Taiwanese students to have better understanding of their direction and passion towards the semiconductor industry and their future goals,” said Tom Wang, CEO of KLA-Tencor Corporation Taiwan. Many employees at KLA-Tencor Taiwan volunteered to be course instructors and advisors to share their professional experience at SEMI High Tech U. In addition to providing guided tours at KLA-Tencor’s learning and training center cleanroom, the volunteers also held mock interviews with the students.

Nyan-Hwa Tai, dean of Academic Affairs at National Tsing Hua University, said “Courses at SEMI High Tech U are designed to gain practical experience through a non-conventional approach, which coincides with the values of innovative exploration at National Tsing Hua University.”

In three days, the students did practical exercises, learning individually and in groups. Tsao pointed out that “During the three-day program, students demonstrated a high level of enthusiasm, confidence, creativity, and team spirit, which is commendable. This event is just the beginning; SEMI will strive to expand the High Tech U program in Taiwan and allow more students to have the opportunity to participate.”

Learn more about the SEMI Foundation and High Tech U here: www.semi.org/en/semi-foundation. For more information about SEMI, visit www.semi.org and follow SEMI on LinkedIn and Twitter.