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Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) today announced that SiFive, the first fabless provider of customized, open-source-enabled semiconductors, has selected the Synopsys Verification Continuum platform as its verification solution. SiFive has deployed the Verification Continuum platform for simulation, verification IP, debug, static verification and formal coverage closure. Synopsys’ leadership position in these critical verification technology areas, combined with native integrations among these products, has enabled SiFive to meet aggressive goals for scalable verification of customized RISC-V processors and SoCs targeted for internet of things (IoT), edge computing, machine learning, storage and other applications.

“SiFive was founded by the creators of the free and open RISC-V architecture with an innovative approach that brings the power of open source, agile hardware design and verification to the semiconductor industry,” said Renxin Xia, vice president of engineering at SiFive. “In Synopsys, we found an innovative partner with leading verification technologies that provide our team with the productivity and flexibility required to deliver our customized processor IP and silicon solutions.”

With the exponential growth of verification complexity, achieving verification closure requires a broad set of technologies including advanced simulation, verification IP, advanced debug, static and formal verification, low-power verification and coverage closure. To address this substantial complexity, Synopsys continues to have the largest R&D investment in verification spanning the entire verification flow. This includes industry-leading VCS® simulation, VC verification IP, Verdi® advanced debug, SpyGlass® RTL signoff solutions as well as next-generation VC Formal™verification solutions. The native integration of these solutions further enables design teams to achieve faster performance, lower power and higher productivity for accelerated verification closure.

“Synopsys is addressing the need for faster time-to-market with our leading portfolio of verification software technologies,” said Ajay Singh, senior vice president of R&D in the Synopsys Verification Group. “Our collaboration with SiFive demonstrates the performance benefits of our Verification Continuum platform required for their RISC-V processors and custom SoCs.”

Strategy Analytics reports revenue for RF GaAs devices increased by slightly less than 1 percent in 2016. An anticipated drop in cellular revenue nearly offset gains in other market segments, but GaAs device revenue still managed to surpass $7.5 billion for the first time. “RF GaAs Device Forecast and Outlook: 2016 – 2021,” from Strategy Analytics’ Advanced Semiconductor Applications (ASA) service, forecasts that gigabit LTE and emerging 5G applications will drive GaAs device revenue past $9 billion in 2021.

“The RF GaAs device market is so dependent on cellular terminals that declining growth rates in smartphone sales has put the brakes on total revenue growth,” commented Eric Higham, Director of the Advanced Semiconductor Applications (ASA) service. “The good news for the industry is that growing adoption of gigabit LTE networks and devices, coupled with emerging 5G opportunities will restart the GaAs growth engine.”

“We are seeing new platforms and major program upgrades starting to ramp toward production and these developments will maintain the growth of GaAs device revenue in the defense sector,” noted Asif Anwar, Director of the Advanced Defense Systems (ADS) service.

The 2017 GLOBALFOUNDRIES Technology Conference (GTC) was held today in Shanghai, with GF executives, customers, partners and leaders in the Chinese semiconductor industry gathering to discuss the technologies that will enable a new era of connected intelligence. At the event, GF senior executives shed light on the company’s technologies, design solutions, and manufacturing services. The company also highlighted growing momentum around its differentiated 22FDX® technology, including customer adoption by several leading Chinese chip designers.

Mike Cadigan, GF’s senior vice president for global sales and business development, delivered a keynote speech, emphasizing GF’s expectations to become a strong leader in the Chinese semiconductor market. “Along with the rapid growth of customers, markets and applications in this region of the world, we are also continuously developing new technologies for enabling connected intelligence,” Cadigan said. “China is definitely one of our most important markets, and we will keep bringing advanced and differentiated technologies here to help our customers grow and succeed.”

At the event, GF revealed three Chinese customers that will be adopting its new 22FDX technology for next-generation wireless, battery-powered applications. Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics Group will adopt the 22FDX platform to design and develop highly reliable servers, AI and smart IoT intelligent products in 2018. Rockchip will apply 22FDX technology in the design of ultra-low power WiFi smart hardware SoC and high-performance AI processers. Hunan Goke Microelectronics is planning to adopt 22FDX in its next generation of IoT chips.

China is a key region for GF’s future growth plans. The company is building an advanced 300mm semiconductor fab in Chengdu, where a “truss-hoisting” ceremony was recently held to commemorate a major milestone in the construction of the facility, which will be called Fab 11. The construction of the fab is progressing at a fast pace and is on track to be completed in early 2018.

The company is also working closely with the Chengdu municipality to expand the FD-SOI ecosystem, with an investment of more than $100 million to make Chengdu a center of excellence for FDX IC design and IP development. Several leading semiconductor companies have already committed to supporting the ecosystem initiative, including Invecas, GF’s advanced IP development partner. Invecas has established a strong presence in China, including a recently expanded engineering team in Shanghai and Shenzhen and a commitment to set up an R&D center in Chengdu to develop and support advanced IP and designs for FD-SOI systems.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $2.03 billion in billings worldwide in September 2017 (three-month average basis), according to the September 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 September 2017 was $2.03 billion.The billings figure is 6.9 percent lower than the final August 2017 level of $2.18 billion, and is 36.0 percent higher than the September 2016 billings level of $1.49 billion.

“Global semiconductor equipment billings of North American headquartered suppliers for September were $2.0 billion, down 12 percent from the peak level set in June of this year,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “Total billings through the first three quarters of this amazing year have surpassed total billings for all of 2016.”

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
April 2017
$2,136.4
46.3%
May 2017
$2,270.5
41.8%
June 2017
$2,300.3
34.1%
July 2017
$2,269.7
32.9%
August 2017 (final)
$2,181.8
27.7%
September 2017 (prelim)
$2,031.1
36.0%

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

The ConFab, to be held May 20-23 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, is excited to announce IBM’s Dr. Rama Divakaruni will be the opening keynote for the 2018 conference. Dr. Divakaruni’s presentation is entitled, “How AI is Driving the New Semiconductor Era“. He will address the Artificial Intelligence era demands for dramatic enhancement in computational performance and efficiency of AI workloads, and discuss the needs and changes required in algorithms, systems and chip design as well as in devices and materials.

“Increased use of artificial intelligence will radically change how semiconductors are designed and manufactured, and I’m delighted IBM’s Rama Divakaruni will be sharing his insights at The ConFab in 2018,” said Pete Singer, Editor-in-Chief of Solid State Technology and the conference chair of The ConFab.

Dr. Divakaruni is responsible for IBM Advanced Process Technology Research (which includes EUV technologies and advanced unit process and enablement technologies) and he is the main interface between IBM Semiconductor Research and IBM’s Systems Leadership. Dr. Divakaruni is an IBM Distinguished Engineer and one of IBMs top inventors with over 225 issued US patents.

An impressive background – since 1994, Dr. Divakaruni has been working on advanced semiconductor technologies at IBM. Through 2003, while in DRAM Technology Development, his team introduced the world’s first sub-8F2 vertical transistor DRAM trench technology. The next two years, Dr. Divakaruni worked as the technical lead for the 90nm strained silicon technology which was the world’s first to introduce dual stress liner technology; the technology was the basis of the Nintento Wii, XBOX360 and the PlayStation3 game platforms. After a year serving as project manager for the Unit Process team, he was program manager and technical lead for the development of 45nm industry standard bulk technologies for IBM’s Joint Development Alliance. At 45nm, IBM and its development partners introduced strained silicon technology for low power mobile products thus launching strained silicon across the spectrum of bulk low power and SOI performance CMOS technologies. This technology was the basis for the first Apple I-pad, early Apple I-phones and was the technology that IBM’s partners, including Samsung, used for all their mobile platforms and devices. 

The annual revenue from the global IC testing and packaging industry for 2017 is estimated to grow by 2.2% to reach US$51.73 billion, according to the latest research from TrendForce. Furthermore, providers of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) are projected to represent a share of 52.5% in the year’s total revenue.

The IC testing and packaging industry is expected to register recovery and growth in 2017 in contrast to the 2016 revenue result that showed a slight annual decline. This year, the main revenue driver has been the increase in the amount of IC components demanded for mobile devices. The strong demand for IC components has also expanded the deployment of advanced packaging solutions that offer higher levels of integration and higher numbers of I/O connections. In sum, the rising quantity and quality of demand during this year has benefited the IC testing and packaging industry revenue-wise.

The projected revenue ranking of the top 10 OSAT providers for 2017 is overall similar to the 2016 ranking. This year’s top three in sequence are ASE, Amkor and JCET. Among the top 10, PTI has gained enormously from the memory boom caused by the combination of tight market supply, application growth for high-performance computing and strong demand for high-density storage products. PTI also has the advantage of having a strong relationship with the memory giant Micron. TrendForce estimates that PTI’s annual revenue growth for this year will reach an impressive 26.3%, putting the company in the fifth place of the ranking.

osats

China’s IC backend service providers are focusing on developing their technologies as their progress in overseas mergers and acquisitions slows

TrendForce’s survey of the testing and packaging industry in 2017 also finds that there are now much fewer M&A targets for Chinese companies because of the increasing level of competition and consolidation activities in the global semiconductor sector. Furthermore, the barriers against Chinese companies for making overseas acquisitions using domestic capital have also been raised. Thus, Chinese IC backend service providers are shifting their focus away from trying to get technologies and market shares via overseas M&As. Instead, they are investing their resources in developing technologies related to fan-out processing and system-in-package (SiP) integration. They eventually want to get their solutions verified by potential clients, proving that they have the in-house expertise to be competitive in the market.

Chinese testing and packaging companies continue to gain processing capacity for packaging technologies that are high-end (e.g. flip chip and bumping) and more advanced (e.g. fan-in, fan-out, 2.5D interposer and SiP). Because of the progress in both technology development and M&As, Chinese service providers such as JCET, TSHT and TFME are projected to rise above the industry’s average in their revenue performances this year with double-digit growth rates.

Additionally, China’s IC testing and packaging industry will be supported by the growing number of domestic fabs in the coming year. TrendForce forecasts that China’s monthly 12-inch wafer capacity will increase by about 162,000 pieces before the end of 2018. This 180% increase from the current capacity level will give a sizable injection of demand into the domestic testing and packaging market.

 

An oversupply of polysilicon will double in 2018 despite strong demand in solar and semiconductor markets, according to a report Opportunities in The Solar Cell Market For Thin Film Technology, recently published by The Information Network (www.theinformationnet.com), a New Tripoli, PA-based market research company.

Consumption of polysilicon is booming as the semiconductor industry, particularly DRAM and NAND, is reaching record revenue and shipment growth. Solar installations are also growing strongly, increasing 35.5% in 2016.

Nevertheless, increased capacity put in place by polysilicon incumbents and capacity growth of Chinese manufactures pegged to increase 35% in 2017 is giving rise to an oversupply that will grow from 7.1% in 2016 to 15.0% in 2018.

As shown in the Table below, the industry will see an oversupply of 76,000 metric tonnes in 2018.

  2016 2018 2020
       
New PV (MW) 78,260 86,909 101,361
Inventory Requirement (MW) 3,913 4,345 5,068
Inventory % of demand 5% 5% 5%
Total PV Module Shipments (MW) 82,173 91,254 106,429
Efficiency loss 3% 3% 3%
Total PV Cell Shipments (MW) 84,638 93,992 109,622
Thin Film Supply (MW) 4,696 4,606 4,460
Polysilicon Consumed (Tonne/MW) 5 5 5
Total Solar Poly Required (MT) 423,696 464,804 546,845
Poly demand from Semis (MT) 34,180 40,119 39,044
Total Poly Demand (MT) 457,876 504,923 585,889
Poly Supply (MT) 490,250 580,910 640,453
Over Supply (MT) 32,374 75,987 54,564
% Over Supply 7.1% 15.0% 9.3%
Source: The Information Network (www.theinformationnet.com)

“In addition to polysilicon capacity increases, the transition from slurry wire slicing to diamond wire is creating more silicon wafers by reducing kerf loss, adding to the oversupply noted Dr. Robert Castellano, President of The Information Network.

The Information Network is a consulting and market research company addressing the semiconductor, LCD, HDD, and solar industries.

Praxair, Inc. (NYSE:PX), a global industrial gas company, has signed a long-term agreement to supply gaseous nitrogen to GLOBALFOUNDRIES in Malta, New York.

Praxair will build, own and operate a plant to support GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ advanced manufacturing processes at its Malta fabrication facility. GLOBALFOUNDRIES is a semiconductor foundry that provides design, development and fabrication services to technology companies, manufacturing chips for many of the top semiconductor companies in the world.

“With our rich history of supporting leading electronics customers worldwide, we are proud to grow Praxair’s existing relationship with GLOBALFOUNDRIES as they expand their chip manufacturing,” said Kevin Foti, president of Praxair’s U.S. industrial gases business. “As a result of this agreement, two companies with significant local New York operations are coming together and spurring growth in their businesses and the local economy as well. Our reliable supply of nitrogen and industry expertise will support GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ position as one of the leading semiconductor fabs in the world.”

“GLOBALFOUNDRIES continues to grow to meet the needs of our global customer base,” said Debra Leach, GLOBALFOUNDRIES senior director of Procurement. “A reliable supply of high-quality gaseous nitrogen is an important component of our manufacturing operation at Fab 8 in New York, especially as we expand capacity to meet demand for our leading-edge semiconductor technologies.”

SEMI recently completed its annual silicon shipment forecast for the semiconductor industry. This SEMI forecast provides an outlook for the demand in silicon units for the period 2017–2019. The SEMI forecast shows polished and epitaxial silicon shipments totaling 11,448 million square inches in 2017; 11,814 million square inches in 2018; and 12,235 million square inches in 2019 (refer to table below). Total wafer shipments this year are expected to exceed the market high set in 2016 and are forecast to continue shipping at record levels in 2018 and 2019.

“Silicon shipment volumes are expected to ship at historic highs for this year and into 2019,” said Dan Tracy, senior director of Industry Research & Statistics at SEMI. “The expectation is for steady annual growth due to the proliferation of connected devices required for automotive, medical, wearables, and high-performance computing applications.”

2017 Silicon Shipment Forecast
(Millions of Square Inches, MSI)

Actual
Forecast
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
MSI
10,269
10,577
11,448
11,814
12,235
Annual Growth
4.5%
3.0%
8.2%
3.2%
3.6%

Total Electronic Grade Silicon Slices* – Does not Include Non-Polished Wafers
Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), October 2017
*Shipments are for semiconductor applications only and do not include solar applications

Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for semiconductors, which in turn, are vital components of virtually all electronics goods, including computers, telecommunications products, and consumer electronics. The highly engineered thin round disks are produced in various diameters (from one inch to 12 inches) and serve as the substrate material on which most semiconductor devices or “chips” are fabricated.

All data cited in this release is inclusive of polished silicon wafers, including virgin test wafers and epitaxial silicon wafers shipped by the wafer manufacturers to the end-users. Data do not include non-polished or reclaimed wafers.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (“SMIC”; NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 0981.HK), the largest and most advanced foundry in mainland China, today announced the appointment of Dr. Haijun Zhao and Dr. Liang Mong Song as SMIC Co-CEO and Executive Director.

Dr. Zhao, age 54, was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company on May 10, 2017. Dr. Zhao joined the Company in October 2010 and was appointed as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President in April 2013. In July 2013, Dr. Zhao was appointed as General Manager of Semiconductor Manufacturing North China (Beijing) Corporation, a joint venture company established in Beijing and a subsidiary of the Company. Dr. Zhao received his bachelor of science and doctor of philosophy degrees in electronic engineering from Tsinghua University (Beijing) and a master degree in business administration from the University of Chicago. He has 25 years of experience in semiconductor operations and technology development.

Dr. Liang Mong Song, age 65, graduated with a doctor of philosophy degree in electrical engineering from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Liang has been engaged in the semiconductor industry for over 33 years, and was involved in memory and advanced logic process technology development. He owns over 450 patents and has published over 350 technical papers. He is a Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

Dr. Zixue Zhou, Chairman of SMIC, commented, “I am very pleased that Dr. Haijun Zhao and Dr. Liang Mong Song have joined the board of directors of SMIC as Executive Directors. I also warmly welcome Dr. Liang Mong Song to join SMIC together with Dr. Haijun Zhao to serve as Co-CEO. For decades Dr. Liang has focused on integrated circuit (“IC”) technology research and development and team management, with excellence and successful experience in advanced IC process development and management. His accession will further enhance SMIC’s ability to develop process technology and narrow the advanced technology gap between SMIC and its international peers; and at the same time, his efforts will further enhance SMIC’s ability to serve its customers and improve the metrics of SMIC’s existing technology. In addition, he brings corporate culture of top tier companies, which will enhance the company’s corporate culture to world class standards. It is believed with Dr. Haijun Zho and Dr. Liang Mong Song’s joint efforts SMIC will be led to a new height and make contributions to the development of IC industry.”

Dr. Haijun Zhao, Co-CEO of SMIC remarked, “I am pleased to join the board of directors of SMIC as Executive Director, and warmly welcome Dr. Liang Mong Song to join SMIC. Dr. Liang’s great achievements in the semiconductor industry are obvious to all. His accession will strengthen our management team, and as Co-CEO I am looking forward to working together with Dr. Liang. Together with our management and staff we will strive to make SMIC a global first-class IC enterprise.”

Dr. Liang Mong Song, Co-CEO of SMIC said, “I am greatly honored to take on the position of Co-CEO and Executive Director of SMIC, which to me, is not merely an opportunity, but also a challenge. SMIC’s rapid developments in recent years have been notable in the industry, and I am looking forward to working closely with the board of directors, Dr. Haijun Zhao and the management team to continuously improve the competitiveness of SMIC in the area of international IC manufacturing.”