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North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.86 billion in billings worldwide in January 2017 (three-month average basis), according to the January 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 January 2017 was $1.86 billion. The billings figure is 0.5 percent lower than the final December 2016 level of $1.87 billion, and is 52.3 percent higher than the January 2016 billings level of $1.22 billion.

“Global billings reported by the North American equipment makers begin the New Year at high levels,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “We expect strong spending growth in 2017 based on investments in leading-edge memory and foundry fabs.”

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
August 2016

$1,709.0

8.4%
September 2016

$1,493.3

-0.1%
October 2016

$1,630.4

20.0%
November 2016

$1,613.3

25.2%
December 2016 (final)

$1,869.8

38.5%
January 2017 (prelim)

$1,860.3

52.3%
Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), February 2017

 

SEMI ceased publishing the monthly North America Book-to-Bill report in January 2017.  The decision to discontinue the Book-to-Bill report was based on changes in reporting by some participants where the reporting of orders/bookings into the data collection program is no longer considered a necessary component of their industry analysis.

SEMI will continue publish a monthly North American Billings report and issue 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. Beginning with the January 2017 WWSEMS report, bookings information will only be available for the back-end equipment segments of the industry.

Today, the research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technology imec, and the Flemish Government announced a new, 5-year strategic commitment that aims at strengthening the pioneering role of Flanders’ renowned research hub. Imec’s annual grant has been raised to 108 million euro with extra money being invested in imec’s longer-term strategic research to consolidate its global position in advanced semiconductor R&D and digital technology and their application domains in smart health, smart cities, smart mobility, sustainable energy and Industry 4.0.

Following the merger of imec and the Flemish research institute in software and ICT, iMinds in 2016, Flanders has a world-class innovation hub in the domains of nanoelectronics and digital technology, collaborating with industry leaders and universities and research centers worldwide. Imec attracts talented scientists from around the world and has distributed research teams at the five Flemish universities. The center’s innovation capacity culminates in over 120 European patent applications on a yearly basis.

“In the new strategic agreement with imec, we fully recognize the relevance of its international leadership. Yet, the annual grant of 108 million euro also includes additional resources for supporting local innovation,” added Philippe Muyters, Flemish Minister for Economy and Innovation. “Flemish companies can turn to imec for integrated solutions that capitalize on the latest hardware and software developments. This is a crucial element in their quest for technology that can immediately be incorporated in their products – earning them a quick competitive advantage.”

Luc Van den hove concluded: “We truly appreciate the Flemish Government providing us with the resources to step up our long-term strategic research and to further support companies in Flanders and worldwide with the development of technological solutions applicable to their products and services, offering our hardware and software solutions throughout the entire lifecycle of the innovations process.”

Mohamed Saleem has joined Brooks Instrument as the company’s new chief technology officer (CTO), where he will oversee its California-based technology development center. Brooks Instrument is a provider of precision fluid measurement and control technology for the semiconductor, industrial and life science industries.

“We’re pleased to have Saleem as our new CTO,” said Vice President and General Manager, Sharon Szafranski. “He will play an integral role in establishing our technical vision, driving advanced technology development, and providing a strategic focus on new and disruptive technology and solutions.”

“Brooks Instrument has a long legacy in fluid measurement and control,” said Saleem. “I look forward to working with our engineering group and our leadership team and the technical community to enhance and develop new products for our key market segments and to grow into new markets.”

Saleem has more than 20 years of experience working with leading companies in the semiconductor industry. Most recently, he was vice president of engineering and business development at Fujikin of America, and a member of their board of directors.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in India; a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Tufts University; and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Florida. In addition, Saleem is active in several SEMI industry technical groups and has published and co-authored numerous technical papers in semiconductor-related journals.

Invensas Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tessera Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: TSRA), today announced that Teledyne DALSA, a Teledyne Technologies company, has signed a technology transfer and license agreement for Direct Bond Interconnect (DBI) technology. This agreement enables Teledyne DALSA to leverage Invensas’ revolutionary semiconductor wafer bonding and 3D interconnect technologies to deliver next-generation MEMS and image sensor solutions to customers in the automotive, IoT and consumer electronics markets. Teledyne DALSA is an international leader in high performance digital imaging and semiconductors and also one of the world’s foremost pure-play MEMS foundries.

“DBI technology is a key enabler for true 3D-integrated MEMS and image sensor solutions,” said Edwin Roks, president of Teledyne DALSA. “We are excited about the prospect of developing new products and providing new foundry services to our customers that utilize this technology. By working closely with Invensas, we will be able to move more quickly to deploy this capability efficiently and effectively.”

DBI technology is a low temperature hybrid wafer bonding solution that allows wafers to be bonded instantaneously with exceptionally 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.

“We are pleased that Teledyne DALSA, a recognized leader in digital imaging products and MEMS solutions, has chosen our DBI technology to accelerate the development and commercialization of their next generation MEMS and image sensor products,” said Craig Mitchell, president of Invensas. “As device makers look for increasingly powerful semiconductor solutions in smaller packages, the need for cost-efficient, versatile 3D technologies is greater than ever before. We are confident that the superior performance and manufacturability of DBI technology will help Teledyne DALSA deliver tremendous value to their customers.”

GE Ventures and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) announced today a multi-year, worldwide patent license agreement. With this partnership, SEMCO will license GE microelectronics packaging patent portfolio, covering the fabrication of substrates embedded with electronic circuits.

Developed by GE Global Research and Imbera Electronics Oy (now GE Embedded Electronics Oy) as part of a major GE focus in power electronics research over the last decade, the patent portfolio is of particular value for high performance communication and mobility products.

“GE is extremely pleased that SEMCO has recognized the significance of GE’s IP in this space,” says Lawrence Davis, Vice President and MicroElectronics Packaging Program Director at GE Ventures. “As the demand for increased power efficiency and higher performance in mobility products continues to expand, GE is positioned to be a strong partner for embedded electronics technology in the power and consumer electronics space.”

GE Ventures accelerates innovation and growth for partners by providing access to GE technologies through licensing and joint development partnerships. This advanced microelectronics packaging technology is being licensed to leading global manufacturing partners to provide advanced solutions to businesses worldwide.

Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) today announced a collaboration with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to accelerate the time to market for IoT solutions. Led by its Technology Solutions team, Avnet will team with IBM to establish a Watson Internet-of-Things (IoT) Joint Lab within IBM’s newly opened global Watson IoT Center in Munich, Germany. Avnet will use this unique environment to showcase, demonstrate, develop and sell innovative IoT solutions.

“There is no limit to how IoT can be used to improve the world. We’re already seeing tremendous potential in new IoT applications that we’re developing with our customers, which range from protecting our children to preventing Legionnaires’ disease,” said Patrick Zammit, global president of Avnet Technology Solutions. “Avnet’s latest collaboration with IBM will accelerate our ability to provide customers with the foundation they need to rapidly develop marketable IoT solutions.”

At the lab, clients from around the world will be able to engage with Avnet and IBM IoT experts to create working prototypes and solutions that draw on the business benefits of Watson IoT and the power of cognitive computing. They can also enhance their IoT technical expertise through hands-on, on-the-job learning in the lab. Additionally, Avnet and IBM will engage with clients on joint business opportunities.

“With almost 20 billion connected devices in the world today, the Internet of Things is rapidly becoming the biggest source of data on the planet,” said Harriet Green, global head of Watson IoT. “With Watson cognitive computing, we have the opportunity to convert that data into meaningful insight to transform companies, industries and society. We are proud to partner with Avnet at our new Watson IoT HQ in Munich in a new joint lab where our best minds can work together side by side. With this agreement, we are pooling our shared deep history and expertise to deliver on the potential of the Internet of Things.”

The joint lab will help enable and inspire clients to imagine the “art of the possible” with IoT – creating new business models and exploring innovative approaches to industry challenges. One way Avnet will achieve this is through its newly acquired Premier Farnell business, which will use the lab to develop proof-of-concept electronic boards embedded with IBM’s Watson IoT and Bluemix services at the device level. The aim is to create a seamless experience for customers, allowing them to rapidly exploit new use cases for customers.

“Our focus is on helping businesses to bring their ideas to market – proof-of-concepts are a critical aspect of that,” said Richard Curtin, senior director of strategic alliances for Premier Farnell. “In the lab, we will develop new electronic boards with enhanced cloud and software capabilities, giving our customers a huge boost in building smarter IoT solutions that can positively impact our world.”

In addition to the lab, Avnet and IBM are actively collaborating to build IoT offerings to accelerate solution development with the IBM Watson IoT and IBM Bluemix platforms. This includes IoT starter kits from Avnet’s Electronics Marketingand Premier Farnell businesses. Clients will gain access to an extensive catalog of over 150 IBM Bluemix cloud services, including the IBM Watson IoT platform, DevOps, mobile and analytics services through the Avnet Cloud Marketplace. Additionally, clients will have access to in-depth technical training on the IBM Bluemix and IBM Watson IoT Platform through Avnet’s training and education services.

“It often takes 10 or more partners to create a single IoT solution, and it can be a challenging and time-consuming task to find the right partners,” said Mark Martin, Avnet’s vice president, IBM global supplier executive. “We’re taking the guesswork out of this for our partners by continually building a solid ecosystem of known companies they can work with to develop their IoT solutions. The new joint lab will be a key place for customers and partners to come together to collaborate with experts to quickly advance their solution design, and it is a vital resource that will be a key asset of the Technology Solutions portfolio over the long term.”

Ultratech, Inc. (Nasdaq:  UTEK), a supplier of lithography, laser­ processing and inspection systems used to manufacture semiconductor devices and high-brightness LEDs (HBLEDs), as well as atomic layer deposition (ALD) systems, today announced that it has received a repeat, multiple-system order from a leading semiconductor manufacturer for its advanced packaging AP300 lithography systems. The AP300 systems will be utilized for high-volume, leading-edge, fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP) applications used to manufacture application processors. Ultratech will begin shipping the AP300 systems in the first two quarters of this year to the customer’s facility in Asia.

Ultratech General Manager and Vice President of Lithography Products Rezwan Lateef stated, “Ultratech has maintained its leadership position in the advanced packaging market segment by consistently delivering superior on-wafer results, cost-of-ownership and reliability performance for high-volume manufacturing (HVM) environments. Fan-out technologies continue to be the optimal solution for the highly-demanding mobile and wireless markets by offering improved performance in a reduced form factor. The AP300 is ideally suited to address this market with HVM -proven extendibility well below 2 microns. This substantial repeat order again confirms our technology leadership and the value proposition of Ultratech’s AP300 systems over full-field 1X scanners and reduction steppers. We are pleased to expand our photolithography-tool-of-record position at this valued customer. We look forward to working with them to meet their volume production and technology roadmaps.”

Ultratech’s AP300 Family of Lithography Steppers 

The AP300 family of lithography systems is built on Ultratech’s customizable Unity Platform, delivering superior overlay, resolution and side wall profile performance and enabling highly-automated and cost-effective manufacturing. These systems are particularly well suited for copper pillar, fan-out, through-silicon via (TSV) and silicon interposer applications. In addition, the platform has numerous application-specific product features to enable next-generation packaging techniques, such as Ultratech’s award winning dual-side alignment (DSA) system, utilized around the world in volume production.

Seoul Semiconductor announced the immediate start of the mass production of its LED chip-on-board package for use in LED filament bulbs, a market currently estimated to be $1.3 billion globally.

Mr. Ki-bum Nam, CTO of Seoul Semiconductor, said, “Based on its strong patents, Seoul Semiconductor will continue to increase its market share in the filament LED bulb market, which is a blue ocean market estimated at $1.3 billion.” He added: “We will widely promote the superiority of Seoul Semiconductor’s LED technology with its filament LEDs.”

Seoul Semiconductor’s filament LEDs can realize high-quality light close to natural light through differentiated chip-on-board (COB) packaging technology and can produce stunning emotional lighting with omnidirectional emission technology, combining a small footprint with a wide beam angle. The Color Rendering Index (CRI) is 80 or better and different LEDs having a flux between 105 and 210 lumens are available. All of them feature a Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) of 2,700 K. Therefore, they are used to create a classical atmosphere through high-quality light in many spaces, like cafes and hotels or even bed- and living rooms, making them an alternative to incandescent light bulbs that have been phased out in 2014.

Development of this technology at Seoul Semiconductor started already in the early 2000s, even before there was a market for filament-LEDs, but production was held until the market was now ready for them. This decision demonstrates the company’s clear long-term strategy and vision. Seoul Semiconductor now holds hundreds of patents for filament LEDs, covering chip manufacturing, COB-packaging, module and bulb manufacturing processes. These are all core technologies for manufacturing filament LED products and this portfolio leads to a strong IP protection of customers using Seoul Semiconductor’s filament LEDs.

An official at Seoul Semiconductor stated: “We are readying legal actions, as many of the LED bulbs released in the market have infringed our proprietary technologies.”

The global light bulb market is estimated at 7 billion pieces annually, of which 2.5 billion units are light bulbs for various decoration purposes, a market being addressed by the filament LEDs. The application of them in this market has started and they can not only be applied to globe bulbs in their various forms, but also to candle lamps in special shapes. These diverse applications are supported by two different lengths of the LEDs: 38 mm and 50 mm.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “3D IC and 2.5D IC Packaging Market by Application (Logic, Imaging & Optoelectronics, Memory, MEMS/Sensors, LED, Power), Packaging Technology (3D Wafer-Level Chip-Scale Packaging, 3D TSV, 2.5D), End-User Industry, and Region – Global Forecast to 2022” report to their offering.

The market is expected to be worth USD 170.46 billion in 2022, at a CAGR of 38.30% between 2016 and 2022.

The drivers for this market are the increasing need for advanced architecture in electronic products, rising trend of miniaturization of electronic devices, and growing market for tablets, smartphones, and gaming devices. The main restraint for this market is created by the thermal issues caused by higher levels of integration.

The 3D TSV market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The major factors driving the 3D IC and 2.5D IC packaging market for 3D TSV include highest interconnect density and greater space efficiencies in 3D TSV compared to all other types of advanced packaging such as 3D WLCSP and 2.5 D.

The demand for 3D IC and 2.5D IC packages in logic is growing because of the high product availability. An increasing number of manufacturers in this market offer innovative products with advanced packaging. For instance, Intel Corp. (U.S.) is driving the market for advanced packaging in field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). Global companies started introducing 3D logic ICs in different programmable logics to ensure operational efficiency with added convenience and increased productivity.

The market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR because there is a high demand for 3D IC and 2.5D IC packaging technology from the growing consumer electronics sector in this region, particularly for smartphones and tablets. The presence of major 3D IC and 2.5D IC packaging manufacturers and suppliers in this region helps to decrease the time to market for 3D IC and 2.5D IC packaging products. This makes the integration of 3D IC and 2.5D IC packaging technology in the APAC region much easier.

ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ON) today announced its top distribution partners for 2016. These awards honor the distributor in each region that led overall channel sales, grew market share, captured increased sales of products from ON Semiconductor’s acquisitions and scored highly on overall process excellence.

The top 2016 distribution partners are:

“Distribution sales accounted for approximately 60 percent of ON Semiconductor’s 2016 annual revenues, compared to 54 percent in 2015,” said Jeff Thomson, vice president of global channel sales for ON Semiconductor. “The support of our worldwide distribution partners is fundamental to the success of ON Semiconductor’s ongoing plans to increase market penetration and grow revenue at a faster pace than the industry. The collaborative relationships and progressive sales programs we foster with our channel partners are an integral part of this ongoing plan. As advocates of these goals, each of the 2016 distribution partner award winners successfully grew product sales, generated significant new business, and effectively supported both our customers’ needs and ON Semiconductor’s initiatives for operational excellence. We are pleased to recognize these outstanding channel partners for their valuable contributions throughout 2016.”