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North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.17 billion in orders worldwide in September 2014 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.94, according to the September EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.   A book-to-bill of 0.94 means that $94 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in September 2014 was $1.17 billion. The bookings figure is 12.9 percent lower than the final August 2014 level of $1.35 billion, and is 18.1 percent higher than the September 2013 order level of $992.8 million.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in September 2014 was $1.25 billion. The billings figure is 3.3 percent lower than the final August 2014 level of $1.29 billion, and is 22.5 percent higher than the September 2013 billings level of $1.02 billion.

“Following 11 months of above parity book-to-bill ratios, the three-month average ratio declined in September,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.  “While order activity moderated, equipment spending this year is expected to be robust and remain on pace for double-digit year-over-year growth.”

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

 

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Bookings
(3-mo. avg)

Book-to-Bill
April 2014

$1,403.2

$1,443.0

1.03
May 2014

$1,407.8

$1,407.0

1.00
June 2014

$1,327.5

$1,455.0

1.10
July 2014

$1,319.1

$1,417.1

1.07
August 2014 (final)

$1,293.4

$1,346.1

1.04
September 2014 (prelim)

$1,250.4

$1,172.8

0.94

Source: SEMI, October 2014

By Bettina Weiss, VP, Business Development, SEMI

The 2nd annual SEMI Vietnam Semiconductor Strategy Summit, co-organized with the Saigon Hi-Tech Park and with FabMax as the premier sponsor, was held September 16-17, 2014 in Ho Chi Minh City. This year’s conference drew over 160 attendees from Vietnam, Europe, U.S. and other Southeast Asian countries for a full day of presentations, panel discussions, networking opportunities and interactions with government, the Ho Chi Minh City Semiconductor Industry Association (HSIA) and the Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP).

Fig 1

 

Building on the success of the inaugural Summit in September of 2013, attendees and speakers commented on the sense of progress and growing vitality of the emerging semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in Vietnam. In his welcome remarks, Kai Fai Ng, president, SEMI Southeast Asia spoke to the importance of Vietnam in Southeast Asia, and SEMI’s plans to facilitate business interactions between Vietnamese and Southeast Asian companies, support efforts in workforce development and education, and continue to strengthen the relationship with key stakeholders in the country.

Of particular interest to the audience was the keynote presentation by Dr. Pham Ba Tuan, senior expert at CNS, the company tasked with executing the 200mm fab project in Saigon Hi-Tech Park that was announced last year. Tuan stressed the importance of domestically manufactured devices to satisfy a rapidly growing need in Vietnam thanks to the country’s young population and high university graduation rates. Tuan indicated that, depending on the product choice and the cost structure of the new wafer fab, at least 5,000 wafer starts per months would be needed. Fab capacity would be a function of product mix, so wafer starts need to be adjustable from 5,000 to 10,000 wafer starts per month. This would necessitate an investment of “a few million USD” to enable equipment purchases, fab construction and infrastructure readiness.

Source: Saigon Industry Corporation (CNS)

Source: Saigon Industry Corporation (CNS)

Tuan emphasized the fact that the choice of technology was a crucial factor for the wafer fab, since it influences investment volume, product portfolio, as well as the ability to develop a skilled workforce throughout the manufacturing process. The choice for the wafer fab in Saigon Hi-Tech Park is 180nm on 200mm wafers, a node and substrate size choice that will enable the production of a wide variety of products. According to CNS, revenue from all products made in technologies down to 180nm already account for US$1 billion.

Fig 3

The project timeline presented at the SEMI conference shows construction to begin in Q3 2015 and equipment move-in starting in Q2 2016.

Fig 4

The CNS presentation was followed by a brief company introduction to NXP delivered by Mr. Frederic Vincentini.

Kicking of the second session on Semiconductor Manufacturing in Vietnam, Ms. Sherry Boger, general manager, Intel Vietnam, provided an update on Intel’s plans to extend the production of flagship products to Vietnam — such as the Haswell microprocessor, which was recently announced. Intel’s Vietnam facility is the largest assembly and test facility in the global Intel network, employing over 3,000 Vietnamese employees when fully ramped.

Fab-Finder’s Todd Curtis shared his company’s learning experiences when they started doing business in Vietnam. He stated that the Fab-Finder management team brought over 100 years of semiconductor experience to the table — but 0 years in this country, making it imperative to rapidly get up to speed with respect to laws and taxes, cultural differences and sensitivities and different business practices. Mr. Curtis made a point of thanking his Vietnamese business partners, legal and tax advisors, HSIA and the Saigon Hi-Tech Park for the education they provided.

Prof. Cor Claeys of Imec presented Imec’s Open Innovation Model. Given the ever shrinking features, the complexity of new devices and applications and the rising cost in R&D, Claeys stressed the need for collaborative efforts in the semiconductor industry in order to keep up with the increasing need and speed of innovation.

Open Innovation

Source: Samsung

Source: Samsung

Contrasting Imec’s Open Innovation model with the traditional R&D approach – where most of the R&D is done in-house, no IP is shared and projects occur in silos –Claeys emphasized the need to share risk, cost, talent and IP among R&D partners in order to jointly reap the benefits of an accelerated, cost-effective RD activity.

This discussion provided a nice introduction into two presentations in the afternoon addressing technology transfers, IP creation and protection. Ms. Radhika Snirivasan, Ph.D., from IBM talked about the process by which technology transfers occur, and how opportunities and risks can be managed. Snirivasan described technology transfers as “quintessential” to any technology installation and shared IBM’s methodology, from preparation and training through installation and debug, qualification and yield learning to product qualification and ramp. She pointed to the added value when IP transfers are managed in highly customizable and flexible scenarios, providing protection and safeguards against risks such as the transfer infrastructure, adequacy of documentation and lack of technology readiness/maturity.

Fig 6

Dr. John Schmitz of NXP elaborated on the subject by presenting NXP’s view on the growing importance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) since knowledge has become a critical driver in the economy. “IPRs are the economical manifestation of technical and business knowledge,” said Schmitz, stressing that IPRs provide a mechanism of protection against misuse. Speaking to current and future patent portfolios, he stated the requirement for future patents to be aligned with the overall company strategy, but stressed the inherent risk of having to look at least 5 years ahead — a mandate he contrasted with the product lifecycle of mobile phones, which is currently about 6 months.

The last formal presentation of the day was M+W Group’s “Integrated Approach for Semiconductor Wafer Fab Implementation,” presented by Mr. Andreas Authenrieth, M+W Group. His presentation focused on the prerequisites for a sustainable and cost-effective fab design, with particular emphasis on energy efficiency, environmental technology and the use of renewable energy. Authenrieth also included the use of secondary equipment in his presentation, explaining the importance of correlating tool specifications with technology requirements, paying close attention to consumables and spares and managing equipment testing and documentation. These considerations could be of particular importance for the CNS wafer fab project.

The 2nd annual SEMI Vietnam Semiconductor Strategy Summit concluded with two panel discussions: The first panel – investing and operating in the technology sector in Vietnam – was moderated by Eduard Hoeberichts, FabMax and included two presentations which addressed both the side of the operator and the side of the government. Johnny Choo of ON Semiconductor shared the experience as an operator of two back-end facilities in Vietnam and highlighted the very positive experience over the last several years as well as some of the areas for potential improvement.

This perspective was consistent with the observations that Sherry Boger of Intel made in the morning presentation. Dr. Le Hoai Quoc as president of Saigon High Tech Park presented the capabilities of the High Tech Park as well as the general government support in various areas for operators and new investors in Vietnam. The “two sides of the coin” perspective led to a lively discussion at the end of the panel session.

Fig 7

 

The second panel – Education and Workforce Development – was moderated by Ms. Bettina Weiss, SEMI, and included: Ms. Sherry Boger, Intel Vietnam; Dr. Carel von der Poel, Technical University Delft; Dr. Pham Ba Tuan, CNS; and Cao Nguyen, ON Semiconductor. The importance of developing a skilled talent pool in Vietnam was also a prominent topic in SEMI’s 2013 Vietnam Semiconductor Strategy Summit. Panelists engaged in a lively debate about the need to do more for women in high tech, partnerships with international universities and special programs like HEEAP (Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program) which Intel is very actively supporting, as well as the Technical University Delft/DIMES Center, which has been engaged with Vietnam’s Hanoi University of Technology, Hanoi University of Civil Engineering and the Ministry of Science and Technology in various programs. According to Dr. van der Poel, it would be fairly easy to extend these programs to the semiconductor space, as Vietnam starts focusing on workforce readiness in this sector.

At the networking reception, attendees and speakers alike commented on the sense of progress and excitement over the last 12 months. Local attendees in particular appreciated the rich presentations and perspectives from the conference speakers, and international companies, including our sponsors, left with a lot of new contacts and business opportunities in country — and the sense that Vietnam is very serious about becoming a stakeholder in the global semiconductor market.

SEMI is grateful for the support of the sponsoring companies who helped make this year’s Summit possible:  FabMax, CNS, M+W Group, Advantest, Fab-Finder, GES, Lam Research, NXP, QAM, and Surplus Global.

Wearable electronics are going from geek to chic, as new smartwatches from the likes of Apple and Samsung have set a new standard for technological bling.

At IFA 2014 in Berlin last month, the European consumer electronics show highlighted new smartwatches meant to entice consumers with more fashion-forward designs. Smartwatch makers hope to eventually legitimize wearable products as a category by improving their usability, and the secret sauce in this effort is an upgrade in design centered on the use of flexible displays. 

The display panel market for all types of wearable electronic items is forecast to enjoy very rapid growth in the years to come. From a projected $300 million this year, industry revenue will climb more than 80 percent annually for at least four more years as high resolution and color displays are increasingly adopted in devices. By 2023, the market will be worth some $22.7 billion, as shown in the attached figure.

In terms of shipments, the market will surge to 800 million units in 2023, up from 54 million in 2014.

Samsung, LG, Sony, Asus and Motorola were on hand at IFA to introduce proprietary offerings—ostensibly to get a head start on Apple, which unveiled its own smartwatches a few days later after the show, in which it does not participate. 

Samsung introduced the Gear S smart watch, which features a curved screen and a 2-inch super active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) flexible display that is large enough to accommodate a keyboard for the smartwatch.

For its part, LG introduced the G Watch R that flaunts a completely circular screen. With a 1.3-inch diameter, this round display has 57 percent more area than a square screen. The sleek P-AMOLED panel is less than 0.6mm thick and features 320 x 320 resolution, 100-percent color gamut, 300-nits peak luminance and unlimited contrast ratio, typical of an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display.

LG Display recently started mass production of its revolutionary circular plastic P-OLED screen, made possible by the company’s development of a circular mask and new production processes that improve deposition efficiency and employ highly precise laser cutting. LG Display’s power-save mode, which enables the screen to retain its resolution without a power supply, has also contributed to longer battery life for the watch.

Like the G Watch R, Motorola’s Moto 360 also comes with an attractive round screen. Both the LG and Motorola models are powered by Android Wear as extensions of the Android smartwatch ecosystem. Meanwhile, the Samsung Gear S employs Samsung’s Tizen operating system.

After months of rumors, Apple finally introduced the Apple Watch—fashionably late but highly anticipated. Set to be available at the beginning of 2015 with a starting price of $349, Apple Watch will use a square display. Detailed specs about the display are still not available, but the wearable timepieces will employ a flexible Retina display. According to Apple, the display is “not just a display but the focal point of the whole experience.” Its advertised flexibility, high-energy efficiency and very-high contrast mean it likely will use an OLED display.

And just like the iPhone, Apple Watch will have the solid advantage of application support from its entrenched ecosystem fully behind the product. 

Imperatives for wearable displays

Developments in flexible displays have opened up new opportunities for wearable devices, enabling the kind of design innovations seen in the latest group of smartwatch products at IFA.

“Wearables are best viewed as functional fashion accessories rather than as electronic goods,” said Sweta Dash, senior director for research and display at IHS. But because the fashion accessory market is determined by design rather than by simple function, wearable products such as smartwatches must be adaptable to various forms including squares, circles or even ovals.”

Displays used in wearables need three essential elements, Dash noted. These include outdoor visibility, low power consumption and flexibility in form factor and design. New forms of display, such as stretchable panels that are expected to come in the near future, can meet even more demanding designs in wearables, creating possibilities for exotic shapes and forms.

Also of significance in future wearables will be efficient, low-power flexible displays with longer battery lives that enable increased functionality in smaller form factors. Expected to dominate the wearable display market with improved capability and reduced costs is OLED, a self-emissive display technology with no backlight, excellent flexibility, faster response time and great video quality.

Most of the next wave of wearable products will come from smartwatch computing, Dash remarked. This field of wearable technology will be diverse, ranging from gaming, to infotainment, to health monitoring.

On the downside, most current products—including smartwatches and smartglasses from Google and others—are not completely ready for mainstream consumer adoption. The smartwatch models shown at IFA and Apple’s offerings alike are all expensive and lack the kind of affordable pricing to make them universally appealing. Moreover, a clear value proposition is needed before consumers fully accept the design and available applications provided by these new timepieces to replace the trusty traditional watches of old.

Wearable devices will need to strike the correct combination of price, performance, form factor and usability to reach the consumer mainstream market, IHS believes. Until then, actual wearable products like smartwatches may take longer to gain traction before the market can take off. 

These findings can be found in the Displays research service of IHS Technology.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $28.4 billion for the month of August 2014, an increase of 9.4 percent from the August 2013 total of $26 billion and an uptick of 1.3 percent over the July 2014 total of $28.1 billion. Year-to-date sales through August are 10.1 percent higher than they were at the same point in 2013. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

“The global semiconductor market continued to demonstrate broad and sustained strength in August, and sales remain well ahead of last year’s pace,” said Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Demand is strong across nearly all semiconductor product categories, and the industry has now posted sequential monthly growth for six consecutive months, thanks in part to continued strength in the Americas market.”

Toohey also noted that continued U.S. semiconductor industry strength bodes well for the overall U.S. economy. He cited an SIA whitepaper released this week that found that the U.S. semiconductor industry is one of the top contributors to U.S. economic growth of any domestic manufacturing industry. To learn more, read the SIA whitepaper here.

Regionally, year-to-year sales increased in Asia Pacific (12.3 percent), Europe (10.9 percent), and the Americas (7 percent), but decreased slightly in Japan (-1.7 percent). Sales were up compared to the previous month in the Americas (2.3 percent) and Asia Pacific (1.7 percent), held flat in Japan, and decreased slightly in Europe (-1.3 percent). Sales increased across all regions for the three-month period from June to August compared to the previous three-month period from March to May.

August 2014

Billions

Month-to-Month Sales

Market Last Month Current Month % Change
Americas

5.43

5.55

2.3%
Europe

3.27

3.23

-1.3%
Japan

2.99

2.99

0.0%
Asia Pacific

16.38

16.66

1.7%
Total

28.07

28.44

1.3%

Year-to-Year Sales

Market Last Year Current Month % Change
Americas

5.19

5.55

7.0%
Europe

2.91

3.23

10.9%
Japan

3.05

2.99

-1.7%
Asia Pacific

14.83

16.66

12.3%
Total

25.98

28.44

9.4%

Three-Month-Moving Average Sales

Market Mar/Apr/May June/July/August % Change
Americas

5.07

5.55

9.6%
Europe

3.13

3.23

3.4%
Japan

2.87

2.99

4.2%
Asia Pacific

15.71

16.66

6.0%
Total

26.78

28.44

6.2%

 

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.35 billion in orders worldwide in August 2014 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.04, according to the August EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.   A book-to-bill of 1.04 means that $104 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in August 2014 was $1.35 billion. The bookings figure is 5.0 percent lower than the final July 2014 level of $1.42 billion, and is 26.5 percent higher than the August 2013 order level of $1.06 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in August 2014 was $1.29 billion. The billings figure is 2.0 percent lower than the final July 2014 level of $1.32 billion, and is 19.5 percent higher than the August 2013 billings level of $1.08 billion.

“The SEMI Book-to-Bill ratio has been at or above parity for 11 consecutive months, and both current month bookings and billings continue to trend well above 2013 levels,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “Strong equipment spending growth for the year is observed across the fab and test and assembly segments.”

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Bookings
(3-mo. avg)

Book-to-Bill
March 2014

$1,225.5

$1,297.7

1.06
April 2014

$1,403.2

$1,443.0

1.03
May 2014

$1,407.8

$1,407.0

1.00
June 2014

$1,327.5

$1,455.0

1.10
July 2014 (final)

$1,319.1

$1,417.1

1.07
August 2014 (prelim)

$1,293.3

$1,346.2

1.04

Source: SEMI, September 2014

The data contained in this release were compiled by David Powell, Inc., an independent financial services firm, without audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. SEMI and David Powell, Inc. assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the underlying data.

The data are contained in a monthly Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. The report tracks billings and bookings worldwide of North American-headquartered manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, not billings and bookings of the chips themselves. The Book-to-Bill report is one of three reports included with the SEMI Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS).

Kateeva  announced that it has closed its Series D round with $38 million in financing. The newest participant is Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC). Existing investors also contributed. They include: Sigma Partners, Spark Capital, Madrone Capital Partners, DBL Investors, New Science Ventures, and VEECO Instruments, Inc.

The company has raised more than $110 million since it was founded in 2008.

Kateeva makes the YIELDjet™ platform — a precision deposition platform that leverages inkjet printing to mass produce flexible and large-size OLED panels. The new funds will be used to support the company’s manufacturing strategy and expand its global sales and support infrastructure. Production systems are currently being built at the company’s facility in Menlo Park, Calif. to fulfill early orders.

The funding news coincides with the 2014 OLEDs World Summit taking place this week in Berkeley, Calif.

“Kateeva is a technology leader and has built a significant business in the OLED space,” said Michael Pachos, Senior Investment Manager at SVIC. “The company has demonstrated both a technical and business vision in driving adoption of OLED displays and lighting, and we look forward to contributing to its progress.”

“We believe that OLEDs on flexible substrates play a major role in the insatiable quest for ultra-durable, high-performance, and unbreakable mobile displays, and Kateeva has proven to hold the keys to a critical industry problem,” said Fahri Diner, Managing Director of Sigma Partners and a member of the Board of Directors of Kateeva. “Moreover, we are very excited about Kateeva’s impressive innovations that are poised to make large-panel OLED televisions finally an affordable reality — perhaps the Holy Grail of the display world. In partnership with SVIC, we’re delighted to offer continued support to Kateeva as they rapidly scale operations to support accelerating demand for OLED manufacturing solutions,” Diner continued.

Kateeva Chief Executive Officer Alain Harrus said: “SVIC’s investment speaks volumes about our technology’s enabling value to world-class OLED producers. It will reinforce our leading position and help serve all our customers better. Also, we appreciate our existing investors for their enduring commitment and trusted guidance. Thanks to their confidence in our technology and execution, mass producing OLEDs will be much smoother for leading display manufacturers.”

SEMI, the global industry association for companies that supply manufacturing technology and materials to the world’’s chip makers, today reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached US$ 9.62 billion in the second quarter of 2014. The billings figure is 5 percent lower than the first quarter of 2014 and 28 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago. The data is gathered jointly with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from over 100 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.

Worldwide semiconductor equipment bookings were $9.96 billion in the second quarter of 2014. The figure is 9 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago and 1 percent higher than the bookings figure for the first quarter of 2014.

The quarterly billings data by region in billions of U.S. dollars, quarter-over-quarter growth and year-over-year rates by region are as follows:


Region


2Q2014


1Q2014


2Q2013

2Q14/1Q14
(Qtr-over-Qtr)

2Q14/2Q13
(Year-over-Year)
Taiwan

2.48

2.59

2.73

-5%

-9%
North America

2.32

1.85

1.16

25%

101%
Korea

1.73

2.03

1.22

-15%

42%
China

1.03

1.71

0.84

-40%

23%
Japan

1.00

0.96

0.74

4%

35%
Europe

0.57

0.58

0.36

-3%

58%
ROW

0.50

0.42

0.51

18%

-2%
Total

9.62

10.15

7.54

-5%

28%

Source: SEMI/SEAJ September 2014

Note: Figures may not add due to rounding.

SEMI today announced the keynotes for the 2nd Vietnam Semiconductor Strategy Summit(September 16-17), an executive conference focused on Vietnam’’s growing role in the global semiconductor industry. The executive event held at the InterContinental Asiana Saigon Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, brings together key decision-makers shaping the future of the industry in Vietnam, and international participants from major companies in the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain.  Keynote presentations include Sherry Boger, Vietnam general manager, Intel Corporation, and Pham B Tuan, CNS, who will both provide their perspectives on current and future industry development in Vietnam.

In total for 2014 and 2015, SEMI estimates a spending of almost $4 billion on front-end and back-end equipment in the Southeast Asia region, and another $13 billion in spending on materials including $3 billion on fab related materials. In addition, according to the SEMI World Fab Forecast, Southeast Asia is home to over 35 production fabs covering Foundry, Compound Semiconductors, MEMS, Power, LED, and other devices. Specific to backend manufacturing, Gartner reports that the Southeast Asia microelectronics manufacturing market accounts for 27 percent of the world’s assembly, packaging, and test production square footage.

At this year’s summit, executives from leading microelectronics companies —and semiconductor equipment and materials companies — will meet with delegates representing Vietnamese government, academia, research, and industry to explore and discuss the key strategies and opportunities in the growing Vietnam semiconductor industry. The event includes:

  • Market Overviews: Presentations by Bettina Weiss, SEMI Headquarters and Clark Tseng, SEMI Taiwan
  • Semiconductor Manufacturing in Vietnam: Presentations by: Sherry Boger, Intel; Pham B Tuan, CNS; Solomon Ng, STMicroelectronics; Todd Curtis, Fab-Finder; and Cor Claeys, imec
  • Two Panel Discussions: Investor Perspectives (moderated by Eduard Hoeberichts, FabMax) and Education and Workforce Development (moderated by Bettina Weiss, SEMI)
  • Tabletop exhibition and discussions

“Vietnam is committed to the global microelectronics world and moving beyond backend,” said Kai Fai Ng, president SEMI Southeast Asia. As the first major new fab project in Vietnam, many challenges still remain, from infrastructure and process technology to device design and IP creation and protection. The SEMI Vietnam event provides a key platform to advance important discussions and decision-making in this promising and growing market.”

The connections and relationships forged during the Summit are expected to drive further growth over the next decade and beyond. Global stakeholders with an interest in Vietnam’’s semiconductor market, including those from the equipment, materials, and device and R&D communities, are invited to share their vision, insights and outlook with Vietnam’s local business, technology and educational communities.

The 2nd SEMI Vietnam Semiconductor Strategy Summit is organized by SEMI and co-organized by Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) and Ho Chi Minh City Semiconductor Industry Association (HSIA).  The premier sponsor is FabMax. Individual registration costs US$750 for SEMI members and US$950 for non-members. Registration and additional information is available online at www.semi.org/vietnam.

The Plastics Electronics Conference and Exposition will co-locate with SEMICON Europa. Plastic Electronics 2014 (PE 2014) is themed “Enabling Applications beyond Limits in Electronics” and will be held at Alpexpo in Grenoble on 7-9 October. PE2014 is an ideal forum to meet technology leaders and professionals from industry, academia, and research organizations focused on developing the next-generation of plastic and organic electronics.

According to analysts, the plastics electronics market is growing rapidly and is expected to reach $13 billion by 2020 driven by increasing applications in the semiconductor and electronics market. Applications like large area displays, solar panels and printed electronics are now responsible for a substantial portion of the PE market, and emerging applications like OLED, thin-film batteries, and sensors are emerging growth opportunities.

Manufacturability of Plastic Electronics has made major steps in the last year, moving from research level to industrial relevance.  Still, numerous barriers to commercialization must be overcome — from material development to integration, manufacturing, processing, and assembly issues. PE2014 covers these issues currently driving development and impeding progress.

Plastic electronics’ imminent transition from the R&D phase to the industrialization stage is highlighted by several keynote presentations at the PE2014 (www.plastic-electronics.org).  Fiddian Warman, founder and managing director, SODA, will present on, “How design type approaches can be effective in facilitating innovative technological development and open up new markets and opportunities,” and John Heitzinger, president, Soligie, Inc., will delve into “Advances in Additive Manufacturing of Electronics.”

The exposition and conference cover the entire span of Plastic Electronics —Hybrid and Heterogeneous Integration; Organic Electronics; OLEDs, Displays, and Lighting; and Flexible Photovoltaics — offering the latest developments for engineers, material experts, manufacturing professionals and industry strategists. Highlights are:

  • Business Case session —  speakers from imec, ISORG, Nokia, Philips Research, Plastic Logic, SODA, STMicroelectronics, Valeo, and Yole Developpement.
  • Manufacturing Panel Discussion on “Building a Leadership Position in PE” — panelists from Bosch, Cambridge, CEA, Joanneum Research, and Ynvisible.
  • Manufacturing Session — presenters from Applied Materials, Beneque, CEA Tech, Dupont Teijin Films UK Ltd, Joanneum Research, NovaCentrix, Roth and Rau B.V.,  Soligie, Universal Laser Systems, Ynvisible — as well as Cambridge University, the European Commission, and VTT (Finland).
  • Technologies/Materials Session — features speakers from Arkema, Arizona State University, CEA-LITEN, Corning, Fraunhofer, imec, and Sunchon National University.

The Plastic Electronics Exhibition & Conference 2014 is hosted by SEMI and representatives of leading industry companies, research centers and institutes. SEMI focuses its activities on roadmaps, standardization, research and statistics, conferences, exhibitions and public policy worldwide.  For more information on the conference, presenters, topics, events and exhibitors, visit www.plastic-electronics.org.

During the three days of SEMICON Europa 2014 (www.semiconeuropa.org), more than 8,000 visitors from all over the world are expected at the trade fair. The combination of SEMICON Europa with Plastic Electronics offers visitors and exhibitors excellent synergies and opportunities.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.41 billion in orders worldwide in July 2014 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.07, according to the July EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.   A book-to-bill of 1.07 means that $107 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in July 2014 was $1.41 billion. The bookings figure is 2.8  percent lower than the final June 2014 level of $1.46 billion, and is 17.1 percent higher than the July 2013 order level of $1.21 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in July 2014 was $1.32 billion. The billings figure is 0.7 percent lower than the final June 2014 level of $1.33 billion, and is 9.4 percent higher than the July 2013 billings level of $1.20 billion.

“Order activity for semiconductor equipment has held at a steady level so far for 2014,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “This trend, along with improvements in semiconductor device sales and unit shipments, is consistent with our outlook for strong equipment sales growth this year.”

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

 

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Bookings
(3-mo. avg)

Book-to-Bill
February 2014

1,288.3

1,295.4

1.01
March 2014

1,225.5

1,297.7

1.06
April 2014

1,403.2

1,443.0

1.03
May 2014

1,407.8

1,407.0

1.00
June 2014 (final)

1,327.5

1,455.0

1.10
July 2014 (prelim)

1,317.6

1,413.7

1.07

Source: SEMI, August 2014