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The 2019 FLEXI Awards has recognized outstanding accomplishments in the Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE) industry in 2018. Presented yesterday at the 18th annual FLEX 2019 Conference and Exhibition in Monterey, California, the awards spotlight leaders in the categories of R&D Achievements, Product Innovation and Commercialization, Technology & Education Leadership, and Industry Leadership.

R&D Achievement Award Recipient – FLEXI winner FlexEnable developed the world’s first industrially-proven, low-cost flexible transistor technology, allowing displays to be built on plastic. Now entering mass production, this organic LCD (OLCD) technology will soon be used in displays for applications including Smart home appliances, automotive and digital signage.

“We are honored to receive this prestigious award for FlexEnable’s groundbreaking plastic organic LCD (OLCD) technology,” said FlexEnable CEO Chuck Milligan. “The award comes at a very exciting time for the company as OLCD enters mass production to deliver a new freedom in product design and novel display applications.”

Product Innovation Award Recipient – American Semiconductor won the FLEXI for the innovative product design of FleX NFC, the industry’s first flexible IC to support NFC communication and new ways to connect to the Internet of Things (IoT).

“We sincerely appreciate this recognition from SEMI-FlexTech and are excited about collaborating with our Semiconductor-on-Polymer Chip Scale Packaging customers,” said Richard Ellinger, VP of Sales and Marketing of American Semiconductor. “Our high-functioning, zero-profile, flexible, durable ICs will enable Smart products in 2019 and beyond.”

Technology Champion & Leadership in Education Award Recipient – Mark Poliks, Empire Innovation Professor of Engineering and Director of the Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing at Binghamton University, won a FLEXI for advancing flexible and printed electronics and for his contributions to the FLEX conference including participating in Calls for Abstracts, leading a Tech Course, and serving on every SEMI-FlexTech committee.

A ride on the business cycle


February 19, 2019

By Walt Custer

Global growth slows in fourth quarter

World electronic industry growth moderated (or contracted) in many sectors in late 2018.  Compare Chart 1 (3Q’18 vs.3Q’17) to Chart 2 (4Q’18 vs.4Q’17). The length and color of the bars tell the story. The semiconductor industry felt more of a fourth-quarter slowdown than the end markets.  Semiconductor-related products are typically much more volatile than the electronic equipment markets they serve.

In the third quarter of 2018 SEMI equipment shipments were up 10.6 percent and semiconductors grew 15.2 percent compared to the same quarter in 2017. By comparison, in 4Q’18 SEMI capital equipment shipments declined 1.6 percent and semiconductor shipments rose only 0.6 percent. For the month of December 2018 alone the results were even more sobering – SEMI equipment down 8.9 percent and semiconductors down 9.1 percent.

Such are the business cycles in the global electronics industry!

Electronic equipment, semiconductors and SEMI equipment – Historical growth comparisons

Chart 3 compares the quarterly growth of “end market” equipment to semiconductors and SEMI capital equipment for 2013 through 2018. Notice the much higher volatility of SEMI equipment in the peaks and troughs of the business cycle.

Leading indicators

Predicting the future performance of our very volatile electronics business cycle is an important challenge. Taiwan wafer fab sales and Purchasing Manager Indices are two useful tools.

Wafer foundries

Chart 4 compares the composite monthly sales of 14 Taiwan-listed wafer fabs to global semiconductor sales. The foundry composite predicts a further decline in chip sales short term.  Taiwan-listed companies report their monthly revenues about 10 days after month-close, so they can be a very timely indicator of industry performance.

Chart 5 compares the 3/12 growth of these wafer foundries to global semiconductor and SEMI equipment shipments. The data point to further slowing ahead.

This leading indicator methodology can be useful in forecasting individual company sales. For details contact [email protected].

Walt Custer of Custer Consulting Group is an analyst focused on the global electronics industry.

Source: SEMI Blog

The intelliFLEX Innovation Alliance announced today that Mark Majewski, a 30-year veteran of the Canadian technology industry and former geographic director at a major semiconductor company, has succeeded Peter Kallai as CEO.

Mr. Majewski has extensive experience in the electronics and technology industries in Canada, having overseen the generation of hundreds of millions of dollars at STMicroelectronics while running its East Central U.S. and Canada regions. He’s also been a key leader at several startups, volunteers as a mentor at the RIC Centre and Haltech, and most recently was the technology lead for business development at Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE).

Mr. Majewski’s goal as CEO is to unite the growing critical mass of Canadian printable, flexible and hybrid electronics (FHE) companies and research with the country’s electronics and semiconductor industries. With his decades of technology experience, Mr. Majewski has the breadth of contacts, experience, and knowledge to successfully position intelliFLEX and its members alongside this massive industry.

“I’m honoured to have been named the next intelliFLEX CEO. I’ve taken this role because I believe in FHE and its future,” says Mr. Majewski. “All electronics players in Canada who want to expand their capabilities should be looking at this technology as it goes mainstream. Not only does FHE open the doors to new products and applications, it also has incredible value in augmenting and improving everyday electronics products that already exist.”

Indeed, as microelectronics and semiconductor companies hit the limits of Moore’s Law for integrated circuits, mainstream companies are searching for new ways to produce electronic components more efficiently for new and existing applications.

That’s where printable, flexible and hybrid electronics come in: FHE, which represents a $31.6B global market opportunity, uses next-generation additive and manufacturing electronics technologies that can help all electronics players in Canada. This strategy has already been embraced in the U.S. where a cross-pollination of mainstream electronics, FHE, and semiconductors is occurring.

“I’ve cherished the opportunity to work with intelliFLEX,” said outgoing CEO Peter Kallai, who founded intelliFLEX and will remain involved by supporting Mr. Majewski during the transition period and sitting on the board of directors. “However, what we need to do is move the organization into the mainstream electronics industry and be the rising tide of the ecosystem that lets all our members sail further, faster and easier.

“We needed a professional from that industry, with the right background, to do that. And I strongly believe Mark will take intelliFLEX to the next level.”

At the same time, intelliFLEX will also move its head office from Ottawa to the Greater Toronto Area. This will help the organization be physically closer to the heart of Canada’s electronics industry, of which the majority is located in Toronto. Seventy-five per cent of intelliFLEX members are in either Ontario or Quebec.

IC Insights is in the process of completing its forecast and analysis of the IC industry and will present its new findings in The McClean Report 2019, which will be published later this month.  Among the semiconductor industry data included in the new 400+ page report is an analysis of the top-50 semiconductor suppliers.

Research included in the new McClean Report shows that the world’s leading semiconductor suppliers significantly increased their marketshare over the past decade.  The top 5 semiconductor suppliers accounted for 47% of the world’s semiconductor sales in 2018, an increase of 14 percentage points from 10 years earlier (Figure 1).  In total, the 2018 top 50 suppliers represented 89% of the total $514.0 billion worldwide semiconductor market last year, up seven percentage points from the 82% share the top 50 companies held in 2008.

As shown, the top 5, top 10, and top 25 companies’ share of the 2018 worldwide semiconductor market increased 14, 15, and 11 percentage points, respectively, as compared to 10 years earlier in 2008.  With additional mergers and acquisitions expected over the next few years, IC Insights believes that the consolidation could raise the shares of the top suppliers to even loftier levels.

There was a wide 66-percentage point range of year-over-year growth rates among the top 50 semiconductor suppliers last year, from +56% for Nanya to -10% for Fujitsu.  Nanya rode a surge of demand for its DRAM devices to post its great full-year results.  However, evidence of a cool down in the memory market last year was evident in the company’s quarterly sales results, which saw its sales drop from $826 million in 2Q18 to $550 million in 4Q18 (a 33% plunge).  Overall, four of the top seven growth companies last year—Nanya, SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung—were major memory suppliers.  Although Nanya registered the highest percentage increase, Samsung had the largest dollar volume semiconductor sales increase, a whopping one-year jump of $17.0 billion!

In total, only nine of the top 50 companies registered better growth as compared to the 2018 worldwide semiconductor market increase of 16%, with five companies logging increases of ≥30%.  In contrast, only three of the top 50 semiconductor companies logged a decline in sales last year, with Fujitsu being the only company to register a double-digit sales drop.

Figure 1

Unwavering in its drive to build a strong, self-sufficient semiconductor supply chain, China plans more new fab projects than any other region in the world from 2017 to 2020, and its expansion of fab capacity recently picked up pace on the strength of new foundry and memory projects from both domestic and foreign companies, according to SEMI’s 2018 China Semiconductor Silicon Wafer Outlook report. China’s installed fab capacity is forecast to grow at a 12 percent CAGR from 2.3 million wafers per month (wpm) in 2015 to 4 million wpm in 2020, faster than all other regions.

Well known for its semiconductor packaging prowess, China in recent years shifted its focus to front-end semiconductor fabs and a few key material markets. In 2018, the region’s surge in fab investment thrust it past Taiwan as the second largest capital equipment market in the world, behind only Korea.

However, China’s semiconductor manufacturing growth faces strong headwinds. Chief among them is the tight supply of silicon wafers over the past two years due in large part to the sector oligopoly’s firm control of global production, with the top five wafer manufacturers accounting for over 90 percent of market revenue. In response, China’s central and local governments has made the development of its domestic silicon wafer supply chain a key initiative, funding multiple silicon wafer manufacturing projects.

According to the 2018 China Semiconductor Silicon Wafer Outlook report, many of China’s domestic silicon suppliers capably provide wafers 150mm in size and smaller. And the while the region lags peers in 200m and 300mm processing technology and capacity, strong domestic demand and favorable policies have fueled progress in 200mm and 300mm silicon manufacturing with some Chinese suppliers having reached key large-diameter manufacturing milestones.

However, it will take these new suppliers several years before they can meet capacity and yield requirements of the larger-diameter silicon wafer market. Company plans and announcements indicate that by the end of 2020, total silicon supply capacity in China will reach 1.3 million wpm for 200mm, possibly leading to a slight oversupply, and 750,000 wpm for 300mm.

China’s equipment suppliers, particularly crystal furnace vendors, are also investing in the development of 300mm wafer manufacturing, and domestic tool suppliers have developed most of the necessary tools for wafer manufacturing, except for inspection.

While China’s silicon wafer suppliers continue to lag international peers in manufacturing capabilities, the region’s silicon manufacturing ecosystem is maturing and becoming better integrated. The sector’s growth is driven and accelerated by significant domestic market demand and favorable policies.

Flexible and printed electronics innovations and autonomous mobility sensors will take center stage as more than 700 attendees gather for 120 market and technical presentations, 70 exhibits and four short courses at the co-located FLEX 2019 and MEMS & Sensors Technical Congress (MSTC) in Monterey, California, February 18-21, 2019. Click here to register for both events.

Themed Electronics Out of the Box, FLEX 2019, the Flexible & Printed Electronics Conference and Exhibition, will highlight new form factors enabled by advances in flexible, printed and hybrid electronics. MSTC, themed Sensor Systems Enabling Autonomous Mobility, will showcase sensor innovations and emerging applications. The events cover a broad span of new applications and innovation drivers in key markets such as SMART Medtech, SMART Transportation and Internet of Things (IoT).

FLEX and MSTC will unite in the exhibition, opening keynotes, panel discussion, networking events and short courses, with the events featuring separate technical sessions. Attendees will connect with a broad group of subject matter experts and industry innovators.

FLEX 2019 and MSTC 2019 at a Glance

FLEX 2019 technical sessions will spotlight innovations in flexible and printed electronics products, equipment and materials as well as unique electronics applications they deliver – from new battery structures and antennas to bio-medical devices. Follow FLEX 2019 on Twitter: #FLEX2019 and @flextechnews

MSTC 2019 sessions will highlight wearables, point-of-care medical devices, food delivery, agriculture platforms, remote monitoring systems and other applications with stringent sensor, data storage, processing and transmission requirements. Follow MSTC on Twitter: #MSTC2019 and @MEMSGroup

“Advances in flexible electronics, MEMS and sensors have immediate, positive impact on the world we live in,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “FLEX 2019 and MSTC 2019 are the ideal platforms to showcase how sensors harness the power of data and improve our lives.”

The special poster session highlighting student projects related to flexible electronics or MEMS and sensors will be back by popular demand. The posters are evaluated for their scientific methods, command of the subject matter and usefulness of the ideas to the industry. Winners receive cash awards, plaques and recognition at the annual FLEXI Awards ceremony.

Keynotes include:

  • Ford Motor Company – The changing automotive sensor landscape
  • John Deere Electronics Solutions – Autonomy in agriculture to solve challenges in space, form factor, power availability and harsh operating conditions
  • Rogers Research, Northwestern University –  The emergence of diverse, novel classes of biocompatible electronic and microfluidic systems with skin-like physical properties to enable innovations in sports and fitness
  • STMicroelectronics – Profiles of new precision sensors for industrial applications, including combination sensors, specialized sensors, and complete inertial modules

Although overall TV shipments in the third quarter of 2018 were flat compared to the previous year, the average TV unit-shipment screen size increased more than any previous quarter in more than a year. While strong seasonality from promotions for the World Cup raised TV unit sales more than 7 percent in the first half of the year, Western Europe, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa all experienced double-digit TV shipment year-over-year declines in the third quarter, according to IHS Markit(Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions.

Global shipments of 60-inch and larger TV screen sizes increased more than 40 percent, year over year in the third quarter, with even stronger growth in North America and emerging markets, as prices fell to new lows for 65-inch and 75-inch sizes. This growth rate is more than 10 percent higher than in recent quarters.

“Each year during the holiday shopping season, brands and retailers try to push ever larger screen sizes to keep revenues growing and encourage adoption of value-added features like 4K and smart TV,” said Paul Gagnon, research and analysis executive director, IHS Markit. “This year, there’s higher interest in 65-inch 4K TVs for many of the key promotional deals, leading to less focus on smaller screen sizes under 50 inches.”

Growth in larger size TVs leads to a rising share of 4K resolutions since larger sizes have already largely completed the transition from 1080p to 4K. In fact, the share of 4K TV shipments in the third quarter reached a record high of nearly 44 percent. Due to sustained premiums and larger average size, 4K TVs made up more than 71 percent of all TV revenues during the quarter. 8K TV shipments are still very small, with just one brand currently shipping a very small number of units in Japan and China. IHS Markit expects additional brands to start shipping 8K TVs by the end of 2018.

Prices of 65-inch 4K LCD TVs fell to an average of $1,110 in North America during the third quarter, from $1,256 in the previous quarter. In China, the average price of 65-inch TVs was even lower – just $928, after already falling below $1,000 in the second quarter. Xiaomi and other brands have aggressively pushed prices lower as competition intensifies in China. In other regions, prices were considerably higher for 65-inch 4K TVs, due to less intense retail competition and a smaller addressable market.

OLED TV shipments were down slightly in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter, with the anticipated promotional focus shifting to LCD for the holiday season. LCD TV shipments increased by 14 percent, quarter over quarter. Quantum dot LCD TV shipments rose to 663,000 units in the third quarter, with an average size exceeding 60-inches. The average size of OLED TVs increased to more than 59 inches for the first time, as the 65-inch shipments share grew to a new high of more than 38 percent.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.94 billion in billings worldwide in November 2018 (three-month average basis), according to the November Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI. The billings figure is 4.2 percent lower than the final October 2018 level of $2.03 billion, and is 5.3 percent lower than the November 2017 billings level of $2.05 billion.

“For the first time in over two years, billings of North American equipment manufacturers are down relative to the same month the year before,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “After reaching historical revenues earlier this year, billings activity is decelerating in line with weaker growth expectations for 2019.”

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
June 2018
$2,484.3
8.0%
July 2018
$2,377.9
4.8%
August 2018
$2,236.8
2.5%
September 2018 (final)
$2,078.6
1.2%
October 2018 (final)
$2,029.2
0.5%
November 2018 (prelim)
$1,943.9
5.3%

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), December 2018

SEMI publishes a monthly North American Billings report and issues the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) report in collaboration with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ). The WWSEMS report currently reports billings by 24 equipment segments and by seven end market regions. SEMI also has a long history of tracking semiconductor industry fab investments in detail on a company-by-company and fab-by-fab basis in its World Fab Forecast and SEMI FabView databases. These powerful tools provide access to spending forecasts, capacity ramp, technology transitions, and other information for over 1,000 fabs worldwide. For an overview of available SEMI market data, please visit www.semi.org/en/MarketInfo.

SMiT Holdings Limited, a CAM supplier and a major mPOS supplier in China has announced that on 9 November 2018, SMiT Holdings (HK) Limited (“SMiT HK”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company completed a further USD 5 million investment by way of preferred stock purchase (the “Stock Purchase”) in Sensel, Inc. pursuant to a stock purchase agreement. Upon completion of the Stock Purchase, SMiT HK held approximately 9.22% interest in Sensel on fully diluted basis.

Simultaneously, the USD 2 million convertible promissory note issued by Sensel and previously subscribed by SMiT HK in February 2018 was deemed converted into preferred shares in Sensel at completion of the Stock Purchase, and the entire amount owed to SMiT HK under such convertible promissory note was tendered to Sensel in exchange for preferred stock pursuant to the Stock Purchase Agreement.

Sensel is a startup company based in the United States that is developing a next-generation touch technology. Their new touch technology, PressureGrid, can sense both high-resolution position and high-resolution force data with a single sensor. This best-in-class technology is positioned to revolutionize interfaces in consumer electronics, robotics, automotive, and medical industries. Sensel is currently working on bringing PressureGrid to market in smartphones and laptops, where they are using this technology to enable new cutting edge user interfaces and experiences.

Mr Shuai Hongyu, President of SMiT, said, “This further investment is expected to consolidate the Group’s leading position in the in the IC-based security industry. We believe that the advanced and innovative technology bought by Sensel is in line with the Group’s development and expansion strategy, and will result in significant benefits in the long term, thereby further strengthening the Group’s competitive position in the market.”

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ 046890), a global innovator of LED products and technology, announced that it has expanded its patent infringement litigation against Fry’s Electronics, Inc. (“Fry’s”), a big-box consumer electronics retailer, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

In its amended complaint, Seoul asserts that top brand televisions being sold in Fry’s stores infringe 19 patents covering backlight lenses, backlight modules, LED chips, LED packages, and phosphors, as well as WICOP technology that enables LED chips to be directly soldered onto printed circuit boards (PCB). Seoul’s patent infringement lawsuit against Fry’s was originally filed on August 31, 2018.

Seoul’s backlight lens patents relate to a new concept of lens technology for manufacturing thin and light televisions. This patented technology was developed jointly with leading optical expert, Dr. David Pelka, and included substantial research and development investments by Seoul in optical lenses. As a result of its hard work and investments, Seoul has approximately 160 related patents in this area.

Seoul’s backlight module patent enables significant improvement of the color gamut of LCD displays by using KSF phosphors.  The related technology has been co-developed with  Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation for many years. This technology has been widely incorporated in most mobile phones and increasingly applied in LCD TVs as well.

Seoul’s WICOP (Wafer Incorporated Chip on PCB) patents enable LED chips to be soldered to a PCB without an LED package – the world’s first developed revolutionary technology for semiconductor structures. Other companies may be attempting to imitate Seoul’s patented technology, describing it as a CSP (Chip Size Package) requiring a sub-mount between a PCB and an LED. Protecting its patented technology has led Seoul to expand its infringement claims in the Fry’s ligation.

In order to safeguard its LED backlight technology and other protected inventions, Seoul has actively enforced its patent rights and sent cease-and-desist letters against suspected infringers. As a result of such enforcement efforts, the United States Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision on November 19, 2018 that one of Seoul’s competitors willfully infringed Seoul’s LED lens and backlight module patents. The appellate court also found that that Korean LED package company Lumens Co., Ltd supplied television makers with LED backlight bars incorporating infringing products.

“We hope that our commitment for technology innovation would inspire young entrepreneurs and small businesses,” said Sam Ryu, Seoul’s vice president of IT Business. “Protecting that technology against infringement is a cornerstone of our business and sends an important message to the market and other innovators who would follow in Seoul’s footsteps – that hard work and innovation will be respected.”