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Amkor Technology, Inc. today announced plans to expand its assembly and test factory located in China’s Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone. With this project, Amkor expects to increase its manufacturing facilities in China by 45 percent to nearly 60,000 square meters of cleanroom space.

“Demand for assembly and test services is booming in China, particularly for advanced products employing wafer-level, die stacking and package stacking technology,” said Steve Kelley, Amkor’s president and chief executive officer. “Our Shanghai operation is Amkor’s second-largest factory by revenue, and offers the most advanced OSAT technologies in China for both local and international customers. This investment reflects the long term strength of our mobile communications business, and the increasingly important role of the Chinese market in the global semiconductor supply chain.”

Amkor plans to invest around $60 million for construction of the new facilities, which is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2016.

Amkor is a provider of semiconductor packaging and test services to semiconductor companies and electronics OEMs.

SEMI honored six industry leaders for their outstanding accomplishments in developing Standards for the microelectronics and related industries. The annual SEMI Standards awards were announced at the SEMI Standards reception held last night during SEMICON West 2015. 

2015 SEMI International Standards Excellence Award, inspired by Karel Urbanek

The SEMI International Standards Excellence Award, inspired by Karel Urbanek, is the most prestigious award in the SEMI Standards Program. The 2015 recipient is Dr. Jean-Marie Collard of Solvay Chemicals. The Award recognizes the leadership of the late Karel Urbanek, co-founder of Tencor Instruments and a past SEMI Board of Directors member who was a key figure in the successful globalization of the Standards Program.

Active in SEMI Standards development since 1997, Collard co-chaired the European Chapters of the Gases and Liquid Chemicals Committees since 2003. Under his leadership, the committees created numerous Standards for the semiconductor and solar manufacturing industries.  Collard has been instrumental in ensuring that the standards developed are relevant. He has actively recruited key players in the supply chain to contribute to development efforts, making certain that the published Standards reflect the true needs of the industry.  He also served as co-chair of the European Regional Standards Committee (ERSC) from 2009 to 2013, steering the ERSC through difficult economic times. As ERSC co-chair, Collard was also an International Standards Committee member, and provided valuable, practical input for new proposals, including the current effort to establish virtual meetings.

Collard earned his Master’s degree and Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Liege, Belgium. He joined Solvay in 1988 and has worked in Belgium, France, and the United States.

Merit Award

The Merit Award recognizes a Standards volunteer major contributions to the semiconductor industry through the SEMI Standards Program. Award winners typically take on a complex problem at the task force level, gain industry support, and drive the project to completion. Matt Milburn of UCT established the Surface Mount Sandwich Component Dimensions Task Force, within the North America Chapter of the Gases Committee, in April 2013 to develop standards for “sandwich” components (components located between substrate and another component). At the time of Task Force formation, these components did not have dimensional standards in place and varied by each manufacturer, resulting in interchangeability issues between manufacturers of functionally equivalent components.  Milburn addressed this problem by leading the successful development of ballot 5595, Specification for Dimensions of Sandwich Components for 1.125 Inch Type Surface Mount Gas Distribution Systems, which was recently approved by the Gases Committee and will be published as SEMI C88-0715.

Leadership Award

The Leadership Award recognizes volunteers who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in guiding the SEMI Standards Program. This Award is presented to individuals who have strengthened the Program through member training, mentoring, and new member recruitment. Frank Parker of ICL Performance Products and Frank Flowers of PeroxyChem have co-chaired the North America Chapter of the Liquid Chemicals Committee for over ten years. During this time, Parker and Flowers have overseen the development of new specifications and analytical test methods for liquid chemicals while keeping the extensive catalog of previously developed liquid chemical standards up-to-date with current industry needs. Their experience and patience has been critical in transforming new volunteers into productive committee contributors, effectively guiding them through the standardization process and minimizing wasted efforts.

Honor Award

The Honor Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated long-standing dedication to the advancement of SEMI Standards. Dr. Jaydeep Sinha of KLA-Tencor has contributed to the Silicon Wafer Committee for over 15 years and has led the development of numerous metrology standards. In addition to leading the Advanced Wafer Geometry Task Force, Sinha organized several SEMI Standards workshops around the world, recruiting technologists from leading device makers, equipment suppliers, and consortia to educate local audiences on recent developments and future needs in wafer geometry. Sinha also actively works to keep the Silicon Wafer Committee familiar with oncoming industry trends, frequently inviting industry experts to speak at committee meetings on hot topics.

Corporate Device Member Award 

The Corporate Device Member Award recognizes the participation of the user community and is presented to individuals from device manufacturers. Dr. Jan Rothe of GLOBALFOUNDRIES is this year’s recipient. Rothe has been active in SEMI Standards since the mid-2000s, and has led the International E84 (Specification for Enhanced Carrier Handoff Parallel I/O Interface) Revision Task Force since 2007. Rothe’s consistent participation in the Physical Interfaces and Carriers Committee and feedback on ballot proposals has ensured that the customer perspective is reflected in all committee output.

Blood and tears at DAC


July 14, 2015

BY PETE SINGER, Editor-in-Chief

At this year’s Design Automation Conference (DAC) in San Francisco, Brian Otis, a Director at Google, talked about how hundreds of millions of people are at risk of diabetes – and how a smart contact lens that continuously monitors blood glucose levels and transmits the data to a smartphone might just be the ideal solution.

There is a good correlation between your glucose levels in tears and that in blood (although it’s a factor of magnitude lower), so a smart contact lens can measure glucose levels using a wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor. The devices are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material.

Google announced the smart lens project in January of 2014, at which time multiple clinical studies had been completed. A partnership was subsequently announced with Novartis’s Alcon eye-care division in July of 2014.

Otis said that the universe of people who are either bona fide pre-diabetic or at risk is huge. “It’s hundreds of millions of people,” he said. “Our hypothesis is that if we are able to create more comfortable CGMs (continuous glucose monitors), this will significantly impact the diabetes management problem we’re facing. No one has solved this problem yet, but we really want to do this because it could improve people’s lives,” he said.

A smart contact lens could solve the problem because it’s a wearable device that many millions of people already wear on a daily basis. “If there is an option of wearing the device that many people wear, that’s comfortable and also corrects your vision and gives you this valuable information, you’re likely to do that over than, let’s say, pricking your finger,” Otis said.

Otis described smart contact lenses as not just another gadget. “It’s really part of an ecosystem that can form a new type of proactive healthcare. We’re going to work really hard on that,” he said.

What makes this all possible, of course, is the work that the semiconductor industry has done in minia- turization over the last several decades. Otis said more work is needed: “The chips, the passive components, the power supplies, the antennas: Everything needs to shrink,” he said.

Micron Technology, Inc. today announced it has appointed Trevor Schulze as Chief Information Officer (CIO).

Schulze, who most recently served as Broadcom’s corporate vice president of IT, brings to Micron more than 25 years of IT, operations and product development experience.

“As we continue to develop innovative new products serving an expanded set of customers in diversified markets, our use of information is poised to grow significantly in importance and opportunity,” said Micron President Mark Adams. “We are excited for Trevor to lead our IT organization and support our global operations.”

Prior to Broadcom, Schulze worked as the corporate vice president of IT at Advanced Micro Devices, where he oversaw global engineering and infrastructure solutions. He also held various IT and engineering management roles at Cisco.

Micron Technology, Inc. is a developer of advanced semiconductor memory systems.

Large-screen smartphones, with displays of 5 inches or greater and often called “phablets” (for phone/tablet hybrids), are on track to surpass worldwide shipments of tablet computers this year, according to IC Insights’ new Update to the 2015 IC Market Drivers report.  The Update’s forecast shows the popularity of extra-large smartphones continuing to gain momentum in the first half of 2015 with unit shipments now expected to reach 252 million this year, which is a 66 percent increase from 152 million sold in 2014 (Figure 1).  Strong growth in large smartphones is having a major impact on tablet unit sales, which are forecast to increase just 2 percent in 2015 to 238 million units.

Figure 1

Figure 1

IC Insights believes strong sales of large-screen smartphones will continue in the next three years while the tablet market struggles with low single-digit percentage growth through 2018.  The revised forecast shows large-screen smartphone shipments climbing by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40 percent between 2014 and 2018, while tablet unit shipments are expected to rise by a CAGR of just 3 percent in this four-year period.  Large-screen smartphones are having the biggest impact on mini tablets, which saw a rise in popularity in the past few years.  Mini tablets have 7- to 8.9-inch displays and typically run the same software as smartphones.

The phablet segment is expected to account for 17 percent of total smartphone shipments in 2015, which are forecast to be about 1.5 billion handsets.  The Update report shows phablets representing 21 percent of the 1.7 billion smartphones that are forecast to be shipped in 2016.  Phablet sales are projected to reach 30 percent of the nearly 2 billion total smartphones shipped in 2018, according to the Update of the 2015 IC Market Drivers report.

Tablet unit sales have nearly stalled out because incremental improvements in new models have not been enough to convince owners of existing systems to buy replacements.  More consumers are opting to buy new large-screen phablets instead using both a smartphone and tablet.  Large smartphones have gained traction because more handsets are being used for video applications (including streaming of TV programs and movies) in addition to Internet web browsing, video gaming, GPS navigation, and looking at digital photos.

The market for large-screen smartphones received a boost from Apple’s highly successful iPhone 6 Plus handset, which started shipping in September 2014 and continued to gain momentum in the first half of 2015.  Apple joined the phablet movement somewhat belatedly, but its 5.5-inch display iPhone 6 Plus smartphone played a major role in the company shipping 61.2 million iPhone handsets in 1Q15, which was a 40 percent increase over the same quarter in 2014.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $28.2 billion for the month of May 2015, an increase of 5.1 percent from May 2014, when sales were $26.8 billion. Global sales from May 2015 were 2.1 percent higher than the April 2015 total of $27.6 billion. Regionally, sales in the Americas increased 11.4 percent compared to last May to lead all regional markets. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

“The global semiconductor industry overcame lingering macroeconomic uncertainty to post solid year-to-year growth in May,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Year-to-year sales have now increased for 25 straight months, month-to-month sales increased for the first time in six months, and we expect modest growth to continue for the remainder of 2015 and beyond.”

In addition to the Americas market, year-to-year sales also increased in China (9.5 percent) and Asia Pacific/All Other (8.0 percent), but decreased in Europe (-7.8 percent) and Japan (-11.8 percent). Compared to last month, sales were up in China (4.0 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (3.3 percent), and the Americas (0.2 percent), but decreased slightly in Europe (-0.6 percent) and held flat in Japan.

“Congress and the President recently gave the U.S. semiconductor industry and other trade-dependent sectors a major boost by enacting Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which makes it easier for the United States to strike deals on free trade agreements,” said Neuffer. “With TPA, the United States is more likely to get the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other critical trade agreements across the finish line, leading to continued growth and innovation in our industry and across the U.S. economy.”

May 2015

Billions

Month-to-Month Sales                               

Market

Last Month

Current Month

% Change

Americas

5.61

5.62

0.2%

Europe

2.89

2.87

-0.6%

Japan

2.54

2.54

0.0%

China

7.78

8.09

4.0%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.78

9.07

3.3%

Total

27.61

28.20

2.1%

Year-to-Year Sales                          

Market

Last Year

Current Month

% Change

Americas

5.05

5.62

11.4%

Europe

3.12

2.87

-7.8%

Japan

2.88

2.54

-11.8%

China

7.39

8.09

9.5%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.40

9.07

8.0%

Total

26.83

28.20

5.1%

Three-Month-Moving Average Sales

Market

Nov/Dec/Jan

Feb/Mar/apr

% Change

Americas

6.23

5.62

-9.7%

Europe

2.88

2.87

-0.2%

Japan

2.55

2.54

-0.6%

China

7.76

8.09

4.4%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.32

9.07

9.0%

Total

27.74

28.20

1.7%

 

Smartphones first accounted for more than 50 percent of total quarterly cellphone shipments in 1Q13. In 4Q15, smartphones are forecast to reach 435 million units or 80 percent of total cellphones shipped according to data in IC Insights’ newly released Update to its IC Market Drivers Report (Figure 1). On an annual basis, smartphones first surpassed the 50 percent penetration level in 2013 (54 percent) and are forecast to represent 93 percent of total cellphone shipments in 2018.

Figure 1

Figure 1

In contrast, non-smartphone cellphone shipments dropped by 18 percent in 2013 and 23 percent in 2014.  Moreover, IC Insights expects the 2015 non-smartphone cellphone unit shipment decline to be steeper than 2014’s drop with a decline of 27 percent. Total cellphone unit shipments grew by only 5 percent in 2014 and are forecast to grow by only 3 percent in 2015 (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Figure 2

Samsung and Apple dominated the smartphone market in both 2013 and 2014.  In total, these two companies shipped 457 million smartphones and held a combined 47 percent share of the total smartphone market in 2013.  These two companies shipped over 500 million smartphones in 2014 (503.9 million), but their combined smartphone unit marketshare dropped seven percentage points to 40 percent.  It appears that both Samsung and Apple are losing smartphone marketshare to the up-and-coming Chinese producers like Xiaomi, Yulong/Coolpad, and TCL.

In contrast to the weakening fortunes of Nokia, BlackBerry, and HTC, 2013-2014 smartphone sales from China-based Lenovo (which acquired Motorola’s smartphone business from Google in October of 2014), Huawei, Xiaomi, Yulong/Coolpad, and TCL surged.  Combined, the six top-10 China-based smartphone suppliers shipped 359 million smartphones in 2014, a 79 percent increase from the 201 million smartphones these six companies shipped in 2013.  As a result, the top six Chinese smartphone suppliers together held a 29 percent share of the worldwide smartphone market in 2014, up eight points from the 21 percent share these companies held in 2013.

In early 2015, 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 their 1Q15 smartphone sales figures.  In total, the top six China-based smartphone suppliers shipped 83.4 million smartphones and held a 25 percent share of the 1Q15 worldwide smartphone market, down four points from their 29 percent combined marketshare in 2014.

Chinese smartphone suppliers primarily serve the China and Asia-Pacific marketplaces.  Their smartphones, unlike those from Apple, Sony, and HTC are low-cost low-end handsets that typically sell for less than $200.  In some cases, smartphones sold by the Chinese companies have been known to sell for as little as $50.

With much of the growth in the smartphone market currently taking place in developing countries such as China and India, low-end smartphones are expected to be a driving force in the smartphone market over the next few years.  IC Insights defines low-end smartphones as those that sell for $200 or less and high-end smartphones as those that sell for greater than $200.

ORBOTECH LTD. today announced that SPTS Technologies Group Ltd. (SPTS), an Orbotech company and supplier of advanced wafer processing solutions, has sold its Thermal Products business to SPP Technologies Co, Ltd. (SPT), a subsidiary of Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd. SPT specializes in the production, sales and support of micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) and semiconductor related process equipment. The transaction includes sale of all thermal product lines and virtually all worldwide assets of SPTS’s Thermal Product business, and will involve approximately fifty SPTS employees worldwide, who are currently engaged in the Thermal Products business, becoming employees of SPT. 

Kevin Crofton, President of SPTS and Corporate Vice President at Orbotech said: “Historically, the Thermal Products business has been part of SPTS’s growth and success, with a range of production-proven vertical batch furnaces that continue to be the process tools of choice at leading semiconductor fabs around the world.  Divestment at this time, however, will benefit SPTS by enabling us to focus resources on our core Advanced Packaging, MEMS, RF and Power devices businesses.  We believe this sale will provide new opportunities for the Thermal Products business under the ownership of SPT, and we wish them continued achievement and success.”

Toshihiro Hayami, President of SPT, said: “This acquisition will allow us to expand the product portfolio that we offer our customers, create a footprint in the global semiconductor capital equipment industry and establish a worldwide presence for our company. We expect the Thermal Products business to contribute to the success of SPT and look forward to new product development activities related to this business in its current and adjacent markets.”

SPT acquired the assets of the Thermal Products business based on a valuation of approximately $28 million, comprised of $22 million in cash plus approximately $6 million in accounts receivable. Half of the cash was paid on completion and the balance will be paid in 2016, without any performance conditions. Orbotech intends to use the net proceeds to repay a portion of the amount outstanding under its credit facilities.  The sale does not materially affect Orbotech’s expectations for its financial performance in the second half of 2015 or its long term business model.

– In 2015,Taiwan is projected to have the highest capex for semiconductor manufacturing worldwide. Taiwan’s aggressive semiconductor factory plans are bringing exhibitors and attendees to SEMICON Taiwan 2015 on September 2-4 at the TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall. Over 40,000 visitors are expected to attend the exhibition and conferences.  Entering its 20th year, SEMICON Taiwan connects attendees with the companies, people, products, and information facilitating the future for design and manufacturing for the advanced electronics industries.

According to SEMI market reports, foundry and DRAM are the two sectors of capital equipment investment in Taiwan, with OSATs’ advance packaging facilities as a key growth driver. Fab equipment spending in Taiwan is projected to be about $10.5 billion in 2015, approaching 30 percent of the overall industry spending on fab equipment. Overall, Taiwan represents 21 percent of the installed fab capacity globally and 25 percent of the installed 300mm capacity.

In 2015 alone, companies in Taiwan are forecast to spend $1.5 billion or more on packaging and test equipment. With the growing importance of packaging and testing, SEMI will host the Silicon in Packaging (SiP) Global Summit 2015 from September 3-4. The two-day SiP Global Summit 2015 consists of two major forums: 3D-IC Technology Forum and Embedded and Wafer Level Package Technology Forum.

SEMICON Taiwan covers a wide array of critical issues. Business programs will include the Executive Summit, Market Trends Forum, CFO Executive Summit, and Memory Executive Summit. Technology programs include: Materials Forum, Sustainable Manufacturing Forum, Advanced Packaging Technology Symposium, TechXPOTs, MEMS Forum, High-Tech Facility International Forum, eMDC Forum, Patterning Challenges (Cost vs. Performance), IC Design Summit, and more.

SEMICON Taiwan also features: Supplier Search Program and Buyers Briefing.  As always, the event features a Leadership Gala dinner, an elite networking event and one of the most important annual executive gatherings for the high-tech industry in Taiwan.

Among the many exhibition technology pavilions, SEMICON Taiwan will host:

  • Smart Manufacturing Pavilion
  • Materials Pavilion
  • Precision Machinery Pavilion
  • CMP (Chemical Mechanical Planarization) Pavilion
  • Secondary Market Pavilion
  • AOI (Automated Optical Inspection) Pavilion
  • MIRDC (Metal Industries Reach & Development Center) Pavilion
  • High-Tech Facility Pavilion

Also, SEMICON Taiwan will host country pavilions:

  • Belgium Pavilion
  • Holland High Tech Pavilion
  • German Pavilion
  • Moscow Pavilion
  • Cross-Strait Pavilion
  • Kyushu (Japan) Pavilion
  • Korea Pavilion
  • SICA (Shanghai Integrated Circuit Association) Pavilion

SEMI Taiwan (www.semi.org/ch/) hosts SEMICON Taiwan with TAITRA and TSIA as co-organizers. The event is advised by the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs.

To learn more about exhibiting at SEMICON Taiwan 2015, visit www.semicontaiwan.org.

“Growing photolithography equipment markets in advanced packaging, MEMS and LEDs are attracting new players; but they have to navigate complex roadmaps,” announced Yole Développement (Yole). Under its new report, Yole’s analysts announce a projection system market for advanced packaging, MEMS and LEDs reaching more than US$150M in 2014. To perform this report, they interviewed leaders and outsiders of this market such as SUSS MicroTec, ASML, EV Group, Rudolph Technologies, USHIO. They analyzed their market positioning and their technical solutions.

Within a highly competitive and innovative environment, Yole’s analysis shows, at first glance, some similarities between “More Moore” and “More than Moore”. However the analysis is more complex.

“Photolithography Equipment & Materials for Advanced Packaging, MEMS and LED Applications” analysis provides a comprehensive overview of all the key lithography technologies used in advanced packaging, MEMS and LED applications and benchmarks them in terms of feature requirements. Yole’s analysts provide examples of lithography process steps for these applications. In parallel, Yole’s report describes associated technological breakthroughs and manufacturing process. More insights are included on specific lithography equipment tools for advanced packaging, MEMS and LED devices.

illus_lithography_market_yole_june2015

The semiconductor industry is very often identified by its “More Moore” players, driven by technology downscaling and cost reduction. There is one clear leader supplying photolithography tools to the “More Moore” industry: ASML, based in The Netherlands. The company proposes lithography equipment with $10M unit price and incredible optics, mechanics and precision stage in order to reach sub 20nm precision (Latest announcement from ASML, April 2015). ASML is followed by two Japanese outsiders, Nikon and Canon.

“Providing this market with photolithography equipment is highly complex and there are gigantic barriers to market entry,” asserted Claire Troadec, Technology & Market Analyst, Semiconductor Manufacturing at Yole. Enormous R&D investments are required as the key features to print shrink ever further. Also, the tolerances specified are very aggressive and thus equipment complexity keeps on increasing.

In the “More than Moore” industry the Holy Grail isn’t downscaling any more – it is adding functionality: according to Yole’s analysis, there are two clear leaders today: SUSS MicroTec (Latest order: lithography tools from TDK, Feb. 2015) in the MEMS and sensors industry, and Ultratech in the advanced packaging industry. Both players are closely followed by the following outsiders, EV Group, Rudolph Technologies and USHIO.

“But the similarities between both worlds, are only superficial,” commented Amandine Pizzagalli, Technology & Market Analyst, Advanced Packaging & Semiconductor Manufacturing at Yole. “Indeed market entry barrier is much lower in the “More than Moore” market. Equipment in the Advanced Packaging, MEMS and LEDs industries is less complex but customer adoption needs are higher, which leads to a much broader photolithography landscape,” she added.

The photolithography market structure for these three industries is very different compared to the “More Moore”, or mainstream semiconductor, industry. New entrants can penetrate these markets with a good knowledge of the technological building blocks. But the key to success is to adapt the equipment to the specific customer’s needs. That means that these markets are complex to develop and that they take a long time to penetrate.

To develop their knowledge and expand their range of products, some players entered through acquisition. Rudolph Technologies acquired Azores Corp. in 2012 to enter the advanced packaging photolithography equipment arena. Also in 2012, SUSS MicroTec acquired Tamarack Scientific Co. Inc. to enlarge its semiconductor back end photolithography equipment market.

Others like Orbotech, which acquired a leading MEMS and advanced packaging company, SPTS, is today only present in substrate and PCB direct imaging.

in this report, competition trends are carefully analyzed and presented as a competitive landscape and competitive analysis of the major equipment and materials suppliers involved in Advanced Packaging, MEMS and LED applications. Finally, a section is also dedicated to disruptive technologies such as LDI, laser ablation and nanoimprint lithography, which could reshape the lithography landscape in the future. Yole describes possible reshaping scenarios are described, including acquisitions, mergers, and joint ventures, along with their anticipated impact on the global photolithography market.