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

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

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

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

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

Nova (Nasdaq: NVMI), a provider of metrology solutions for advanced process control used in semiconductor manufacturing, today announced that Ronnie (Miron) Kenneth, former Chief Executive Officer of Voltaire Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: VOLT) and former Chief Executive Officer of Pontis Ltd., has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Kenneth is a veteran high-tech leader who served for ten years as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Voltaire, leading it to an initial public offering on Nasdaq in 2007. Following the company’s merger with Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: MLNX) in 2011, Mr. Kenneth became the Chief Executive Officer of Pontis Ltd., a privately-held company, until 2013. Mr. Kenneth currently serves as the Chairman of Teridion Technologies Ltd. and Varada Ltd., and he is a director of Allot Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: ALLT) and Orbotech Ltd. (Nasdaq: ORBK).

“Ronnie brings a broad experience in leading technology companies. I am looking forward to adding his extensive experience in the high-tech industry to our board as Nova continues to expand. I have no doubt that Ronnie will be an important addition to our Board of Directors and will contribute to Nova’s success,” commented Dr. Micha Brunstein, Nova’s Chairman of the Board.

“I am excited to join Nova and have the opportunity to contribute to its continued growth,” added Mr. Kenneth. “Nova has already established a strong position in a rapidly expanding market, and I believe that this talented board will continue to chart a course of success for the company.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEMICON China also features three theme pavilions:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: CY) today announced the appointment of Jeannine Sargent to its board of directors. Sargent brings 30 years of experience encompassing leadership, operations, marketing and engineering roles within a diverse mix of high tech component and systems companies across multiple industries. As part of her responsibilities on Cypress’ board, she will serve on the company’s Compensation Committee.

In her most recent role as President of Innovation and New Ventures at Flex, a leading contract design, engineering and manufacturing company, Sargent led the fastest growing and highest margin design-enabled business, which was at the core of Flex’s long-term strategic growth plan. Prior to this, she served as president of Flex’s Energy business, which she helped build into a global multi-billion-dollar industry leader focusing on renewable energy, smart grid and solid-state lighting technologies, products and services. In her career, Sargent has served as CEO at both Oerlikon Solar, a thin-film silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturer, and Voyan Technology, an embedded systems software provider to the communications and semiconductor industries. She currently serves on several investment and advisory boards and is on the board of trustees at Northeastern University.

“Jeannine Sargent is another excellent addition to Cypress’ board,” said Steve Albrecht, Cypress’ chairman. “She strengthens our team with the depth of her experience in growing innovative and profitable systems businesses at the forefront of emerging, high tech industries. I’m excited for her valuable contributions toward supporting the management team as they continue executing our strategy to become the leading embedded system solutions supplier in high-growth segments including Automotive, Industrial and applications across the IoT.”

Sargent holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Northeastern University and certificates from the executive development programs at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Harvard University and Stanford University.

The global wafer mounter equipment market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 4% from 2017-2021, according to a new market research report by Technavio.

Global wafer mounter equipment market segmentation by application and product type

Technavio’s report on the global wafer mounter equipment market analyses the business dimensions and presents a comprehensive breakdown in terms of market segmentation by application, including 300 mm (12 inches), 200 mm (8 inches), and 150 mm (6 inches). In 2016, the global wafer mounter equipment market by application was dominated by the 300mm segment, which accounted for a revenue share of close to 64%.

Based on product type, the global wafer mounter equipment market has been segmented into manual wafer mounters, automatic wafer mounters, and semi-automatic wafer mounters. The manual wafer mounters segment dominated the market, accounting for a revenue share of more than 41% in 2016.

“Manual wafer mounters are the most preferred wafer mounters by semiconductor device manufacturers. Leading vendors such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, United Microelectronics, and SMIC are undertaking capital investments to meet the rising requirements for chips as new applications such as the IoT, factory automation, and automobile automation are emerging. The market will slowly transition from manual wafer mounters to automatic wafer mounters as manufacturers look to automate various processes,” says Chetan Mohan, a lead analyst at Technavio for semiconductor equipment research.

 

Global wafer mounter equipment market: competitive vendor landscape

The semiconductor industry is witnessing significant technology transitions in the manufacturing process such as the shift to smaller nodes, the multi-patterning technology, and the growth of MEMS and NEMS devices. To address these requirements of the customers, some of the equipment manufacturers are expected to develop new fabrication equipment that is in line with these technological advances. The semiconductor market is predicted to be driven by the growth of the IoT market, which will increase the demand for sensors, controllers, and embedded non-volatile memory.

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

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

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

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

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $2.05 billion in billings worldwide in November 2017 (three-month average basis), according to the November Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide billings of North American equipment manufacturers in November 2017 was $2.05 billion. The billings figure is 1.6 percent higher than the final October 2017 level of $2.02 billion, and is 27.2 percent higher than the November 2016 billings level of $1.61 billion.

“November billings for North American equipment manufacturers increased modestly for the first time in four months,” said Dan Tracy, Senior Director, Industry Research and Statistics, at SEMI. “Year-to-date equipment spending is well on track to set a historical high, and we expect that positive momentum to continue into next year as new fabs in China begin to equip.”

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 2017
$2,300.3
34.1%
July 2017
$2,269.7
32.9%
August 2017
$2,181.8
27.7%
September 2017
$2,054.8
37.6%
October 2017 (final)
$2,019.3
23.9%
November 2017 (prelim)
$2,052.2
27.2%

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

 

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502), Toshiba Memory Corporation and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) have entered into a global settlement agreement to resolve their ongoing disputes in litigation and arbitration, strengthen and extend their relationship, and enhance the mutual commitment to their ongoing flash memory collaboration.

As part of this agreement, TMC and Western Digital will participate jointly in future rounds of investment in Fab 6, the memory fabrication facility now under construction at Yokkaichi, including the upcoming investment round announced by Toshiba in October 2017. Fab 6 will be entirely devoted to the mass production of BiCS FLASH, the next-generation of 3D flash memory, starting next year. TMC and Western Digital similarly intend to enter into definitive agreements in due course under which Western Digital will participate in the new flash wafer fabrication facility which will be constructed in Iwate, Japan.

The parties will strengthen their flash memory collaboration by extending the terms of their joint ventures. Flash Alliance will be extended to December 31, 2029 and Flash Forward to December 31, 2027. Flash Partners was previously extended to December 31, 2029.

The parties’ agreement to resolve all outstanding disputes ensures that all parties are aligned on Toshiba’s sale of TMC to K.K. Pangea, a special purpose acquisition company formed and controlled by a consortium led by Bain Capital Private Equity, LP (“Bain Capital”). The parties have agreed on mutual protections for their assets and confidential information in connection with the sale of TMC, and on collaborating to ensure the future success of TMC as a public company following an eventual IPO.

Commenting on the agreement reached today, Dr. Yasuo Naruke, Senior Executive Vice President of Toshiba Corporation and President and CEO of TMC said: “We are very pleased to have reached this outcome, which clearly benefits all involved. With the concerns about litigation and arbitration removed, we look forward to renewing our collaboration with Western Digital, and accelerating TMC’s growth to meet growing global demand for flash memory. Toshiba also remains on track to complete our transaction with the consortium led by Bain Capital by the end of March 2018. This will ensure that TMC has the resources it needs to continue to innovate and deliver for a fast-growing flash memory market, particularly in areas driven forward by advances in AI and IoT.”

Western Digital Chief Executive Officer Steve Milligan stated: “Western Digital’s core priorities have always been to protect the JVs and ensure their success and longevity, guarantee long-term access to NAND supply, protect our interests in the JVs, and create long-term value for our stakeholders. We are very pleased that these agreements accomplish these critical goals, allow Toshiba to achieve its objectives, and also enable us to continue delivering on the power of our platform. I want to thank the hardworking teams at Western Digital and TMC for the dedication they have exhibited over the past several months, operating the JVs without interruption, and we look forward to building upon the success of our 17 year partnership.”

Yuji Sugimoto, Managing Director, Head of Japan for Bain Capital said: “Bain Capital is pleased that Toshiba and Western Digital have resolved all outstanding legal disputes. The settlement represents the best possible outcome for all parties, clearing the way for the Bain Capital-led consortium to complete its acquisition of TMC as planned. We look forward to supporting TMC to achieve its strategic objectives while enhancing these important JVs with Western Digital.”

As part of the global settlement agreement, Toshiba, TMC and Western Digital have agreed to withdraw all pending litigation and arbitration actions.