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BY GRIGORI BOKERIA, MATTHIAS FRAHM, SASCHA RAHMAN, and XI BING ANG, Simon-Kucher

The semiconductor industry is facing key challenges. In recent years, M&A mega deals have led to consolidations within the market, while the industry continues to mature. This leaves rather moderate growth prospects for the next three years. Semiconductor companies will have to consistently farm limited organic growth sources whilst at the same time tapping into new and growing macrotrends. To be successful in the long term, they must recognize the potential of the disruptive technologies and new markets that the Internet of Things will bring.

How can companies relive the previous successes in the mobile consumer segment?

In the 1990s and even early 2000s, growth booms in the industry with annual sales growth of 30 to 40 percent were the norm. Thanks to the sharply increasing demand in the consumer market for PCs, laptops and mobile phones, many smaller technology companies were able to grow into giants in the semiconductor business (FIGURE 1). However, since 2011, the industry has had to manage its growth expectations for the consumer market. With an average annual growth rate of 3.4 percent expected from 2015 to 2020, the strong growth period seems to be over and the dynamic start-up atmosphere of the past appears to be more or less history. The entire industry already has a market size of over 350 billion euros, with intense rigid competition among existing players. M&A mega deals (FIGURE 2) such as Qualcomm-NXP, Avago-Broadcom, Softbank-ARM and Western Digital-SanDisk have severely consolidated the market and now these companies are deep in operations integration and rationalization mode.

Is this the end of the period of constant growth outperformance? Not at all. Simon-Kucher project experience tells us that even organic growth sources based on dynamic market trends can be tapped, meaning companies can relive the successes in the mobile consumer sector. However, two fundamental strategic questions need to be answered: Where will these new growth waves come from?

And how can the imminent stagnation be avoided? We have identified three sources of organic growth that will play a pivotal role in the future of the semiconductor industry.

1.Exploit new disruptive technologies such as silicon carbide

Semiconductors based on silicon carbide (SiC) represent a strong area for future growth. Compared to semiconductors made of regular silicon, SiC-based semiconductors can operate at much higher frequency and temperature and convert electric power at lower losses, promising increased speed, robustness and efficiency. SiC devices are capable of managing the same power level as Si devices at half the size, boosting power density and reliability.

While a handful of players have already secured a favorable starting position in the market, there continues to be strong medium-term growth forecasts which means that the current market volume in this emerging product segment (~$200 million) still offers attractive entry potential for second and third movers. Several suppliers such as Dow Corning and Nippon Steel have entered and increased activity in the SiC market while companies such as Wolfspeed/Cree are experiencing decline in market share. This goes to show that there is still room to wrangle for territory.

We anticipate that hype will become mass reality within the next five to eight years, particularly driven by the growing demand in hybrid and electric mobility, regener- ative power generation and industrial applications. Notably, SiC may have a huge impact on the automotive industry, in particular on electric vehicles and e-mobility due to the high efficiency levels. In each of these markets, customers continue to demand and expect smaller wafers and devices with increasingly better performance profiles than Si-based devices, made possible by SiC technology. According to a recent Simon-Kucher study, global demand in the SiC technology segment and its sister technology gallium nitride (GaN) will amount to more than three billion euros by 2025, with double-digit annual growth rates. Industry analysts note that SiC has gradually emerged as “mainstream” material since 2016 which will result in drop in prices for devices from 2018 onwards. This would translate to possibly large increases in volume demand.

At the moment, the technology is still relatively cost-intensive and more complex in production primarily due to lack of scale. As such, SiC and GaN remain niche markets for now. However, having achieved first significant design-wins, first-moving companies are proof of the future market potential. The remaining semiconductor companies need to adapt their innovation strategies or risk trailing the pack. To successfully implement SiC and GaN system solutions, it is essential to closely orient new product development towards emerging market needs, starting from initial development phases.

Here, semiconductor companies have to identify the appli- cations where customers already demand high switching voltage and speed, low switching losses, and a small size and weight. Only in doing so can they expect customer- oriented market success from design-in to design-win.

2. Anticipate and seize new markets materializing from the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) has now become the catch-all phrase that encapsulates an enormous spectrum of potential applications and markets revolving around interconnected physical devices and appliances. As it continues to evolve and numerous markets around it become commercially viable, semiconductor companies have a huge opportunity to capture the underlying profit pools. By some accounts, something like 3 billion new IoT-enabled devices are manufactured per year; at the most rudimentary level, each of these devices require microcontrollers, sensors, actuators and a whole host of other semiconductor-enabled parts. Another indirect area of growth for semiconductor companies will likely emerge from the fact that the exponentially increasing amount of data generated by IoT products need to be processed and stored. This will lead to demand for more server farms and greater storage capacities.

IoT products and applications would not be possible without the continued advancements in semiconductor technology, and the demand for inexpensive chips that can be mass- produced will only continue to increase. Rather than spectating and reacting to this market macrotrend from the sidelines, semiconductor companies should see the IoT as an integral part of the future market’s DNA.

The current challenge is the fragmented nature of the market, with no clear “killer application” or common platform; rather, there is a multitude of smaller niche opportunities that in its entirety promise overall attractive growth potential. No player has yet been able to establish a market-dominant position in this highly diversified market. There are, however, specific end-markets that have taken the lead (for now) in terms of showing promise of growth, such as smart home applications, consumer wearables (e.g. fitness bracelets, smart watches), medical electronics, and connected cars (FIGURE 3). The IoT will turn these individual niche segments into potential game-changers for the semiconductor industry.

Amid these fast-evolving segments, critical for the success of semiconductor companies is their agility in swiftly responding to emerging trends and integrating hardware and software components along the value chain and ultimately, offering a seamless IoT solution. Semiconductor companies already focusing on seamless security, communication intel- ligence and user-friendliness are a step ahead in strength- ening their position. To not be left behind, semiconductor companies need to make the strategic decision of prioritising resources and investments into IoT-related growth sources and resist the inertia and temptation to solely rely on existing “bread and butter” revenue streams, regardless of how healthy the current margins are. Related to this, to get serious about this emerging opportunity, semiconductor companies should not view the IoT markets as a nebulous concept with opportunistic revenue streams, but rather conduct in-depth analyses of their current position within the changing value chains and competitive landscape to formulate concrete go-to-market plans.

3. Shift from component-centric sales to supplying system solutions

Finally, a third dimension of growth beyond new products and new markets for semiconductor companies is to move up the value chain. Increasingly, leading market players are integrating chips, drivers, software and sensors to offer partial system solutions, with the ultimate objective of being ecosystem enablers. Naturally, this requires the capability to not only sell hardware (semiconductors, wafers, etc.) but an entire system and services around it that several entities from different industries can utilise to establish their own IoT products. However, for companies traditionally built around selling components, doing this successfully is not a straightforward undertaking. Many sales forces are finding themselves lacking the organizational setup and solution-selling approach critical for success. In addition, in order to integrate products in the portfolio into systems solutions, companies have to establish effective cross-industry channel management on the sales front and at the same time develop strong alliances with partners along the value chain to ensure a stable ecosystem. Successful players will be those in the market with the capability to provide modular solutions that can readily interlink products with security, software and system consulting services.

As a result, we believe that the desire of companies to move towards being system suppliers and ecosystem enablers will further increase M&A activity due to the need to acquire specialised knowledge. Notably, Intel has acquired three companies within the space of a year from different parts of the industry to assimilate specific expertise related to IoT i.e. Altera (designer and manufacturer of program- mable logic devices), Nervana Systems (artificial intelligence software developer) and Itseez (specialist in computer vision technology and algorithms).

In summary, despite some notions otherwise, we are bullish about the imminent growth potential in the semiconductor market driven by very powerful macrotrends in product technology, emerging applications and also value chain shifts. Semiconductor companies thirsty for new waves of exponential growth would do well to heed the signposts from these trends and re-orient their product development, industry alliances and sales approaches rapidly in order to capitalise on these opportunities before the winner takes all.

Grigori Bokeria is a Partner in Simon-Kucher’s Cologne office, where Sascha Rahman is a Director; Matthias Frahm is a Senior Director in the Bonn office and Xi Bing Ang is a Director based in the London office. All four authors work within Simon-Kucher’s Global Technology & Industrial practice.

Market shares of semiconductor equipment manufacturers shifted significantly in Q1 2018 as Applied Materials, the top supplier dropped, according to the report “Global Semiconductor Equipment: Markets, Market Shares, Market Forecasts,” recently published by The Information Network, a New Tripoli-based market research company.

The chart below shows shares for the first quarter (Q1) of calendar year 2017 and 2018. Market shares are for equipment only, excluding service and spare parts, and have been converted for revenues of foreign companies to U.S. dollars on a quarterly exchange rate.

Applied Materials lost significant market share YoY, from 18.4% of the $13.1 billion Q1 2017 market to 17.7% of the $17.0 billion Q1 2018 market. This drop follows a 1.8 share-point loss by Applied Materials for CY 2017 compared to 2016. The company competes with Lam Research and TEL in the deposition and etch market, and both gained share at the expense of Applied Materials.

At the other end of the spectrum, smaller semiconductor companies making up the “other” category lost 2.4 share points as a whole.

Much of the equipment revenue growth was attributed to strong growth in the DRAM and NAND sectors, as equipment was installed in memory manufacturers Intel, Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Toshiba, and Western Digital. The memory sector, which grew grown 61.5% in 2017, is forecast to add another 28.5% in 2018 according to industry consortium WSTS (World Semiconductor Trade Statistics).

TEL recorded growth of 120.3% YoY in Korea, much of it on NAND and DRAM sales to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, and 69.5% YoY in Japan, much of it on NAND sales to Toshiba at its Fab 6 in Kitakami, Japan. Lam Research gained 42.2% and 70.5% YoY, respectively, in Korea and Japan.

Following the strong growth in the semiconductor equipment market, The Information Network projects another 11.5% growth in 2018 for semiconductor equipment.

SEMICON West next week will host a White House-led discussion of the anticipated national leadership strategy for semiconductors, a multi-agency initiative led by top U.S. government national security and economic organizations.

On Wednesday, July 11, a panel of U.S. officials representing agencies involved in leading the strategy will address federal research and development (R&D), investment and acquisition priorities aimed at ensuring the U.S. remains the global leader in the semiconductor industry.

As global economic trends and technologies such as artificial intelligence evolve, and foreign governments increasingly lure microelectronics manufacturing investments overseas, the U.S. strategy for manufacturing advanced semiconductors and driving research and development (R&D) in technology innovation has become an economic priority.

The White House selected SEMICON West, organized by SEMI, as the site for the discussion and this urgent call to action because of the event’s central role in bringing together critical industries across the global electronics supply chain. The multi-agency panel will outline activities and new policies under development to ensure U.S. strategic leadership in microelectronics, including focused investment in innovations key to the next generation of devices for commercial and government use. The initiative also includes public-private partnerships to accelerate the capabilities of advanced semiconductors for critical applications such as artificial intelligence (AI), cyber, secure communications, the internet of things (IoT) and big data analytics.

PANEL:
National Strategy for Semiconductor and Microelectronic Innovation
TIME AND DATE:
10:30 to 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 11
LOCATION:
Yerba Buena Theater, 700 Howard St., San Francisco
MODERATOR:
Dr. Lloyd Whitman, Principal Assistant Director, Physical Sciences and Engineering, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
PANELISTS:
Dr. Sankar Basu, Program Director, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, National Science Foundation
Dr. Eric W. Forsythe, Flexible Electronics Team Leader, U.S. Army Research Laboratory
Dr. Jeremy Muldavin, Deputy Director of Defense Software & Microelectronics Activities, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering
Dr. Robinson Pino, Acting Research Division Director, Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Office of Science, Department of Energy

 

SEMICON West is organized by SEMI Americas to connect more than 2,000 member companies and 1.3 million professionals worldwide to advance the technology and business of electronics manufacturing. SEMICON West is celebrating its 47th year as the flagship event for the semiconductor industry. Find more at www.semiconwest.org.

The SiC power market is now on the road, asserts Yole Développement (Yole). Therefore, since 2017, the market research and strategy consulting company identified more than 20 strategic announcements, showing the dynamism of this market and attractiveness of the technology. Rohm, Bombardier, Cree, SDK, STMicroelectronics, Infineon Technologies, Littelfuse, Ascatron and more are part of the powerful ecosystem, presenting innovative products and revealing key partnerships and/or M&A .

Today, SiC transistors are clearly being adopted, penetrating smoothly into different applications. Yole’s analysts forecast a US$1.4 billion SiC power semiconductor market by 2023. According to the Power & Wireless team at Yole, this market is showing a 29% CAGR between 2017 and 2023.
Power SiC report, 2018 edition presents Yole’s deep understanding of SiC penetration in different applications including xEV, xEV charging infrastructure, PFC/power supply, PV, UPS, motor drives, wind and rail. In addition, it highlights the state-of-the-art SiC-based devices, modules, and power stacks. Yole’s analysts also describe the SiC power industrial landscape from materials to systems, and analyze of SiC power market dynamics. This report proposes a detailed quantification of the SiC power device market until 2023, in value and volume.

SiC adoption is accelerating: is the supply chain ready? Yole’s analysts reveal today their vision of the SiC industry.

SiC market is still being driven by diodes used in PFC and PV applications. However Yole expects that in five years from now the main SiC device market driver will be transistors, with an impressive 50% CAGR for 2017-2023.

This adoption is partially thanks to the improvement of the transistor performance and reliability compared to the first generation of products, which gives confidence to customers for implementation.

Another key trend revealed by Yole’s analysts is the SiC adoption by automotive players, over the next 5-10 years. “Its implementation rate differs depending on where SiC is being used,” comments Dr. Hong Lin, Technology and Market Analyst, Compound Semiconductors at Yole. “That could be in the main inverter, in OBC or in the DC/DC converter. By 2018, more than 20 automotive companies are already using SiC SBDs or SiC MOSFET transistors for OBC, which will lead to 44% CAGR through to 2023.”

Yole expects SiC adoption in the main inverter by some pioneers, with an inspiring 108% market CAGR for 2017-2023. This will be possible because nearly all carmakers have projects to implement SiC in the main inverter in coming years. In particular, Chinese automotive players are strongly considering the adoption of SiC.

The recent SiC module developed by STMicroelectronics for Tesla and its Model 3 is a good example of this early adoption. The SiC-based inverter, analyzed by System Plus Consulting, Yole’s sister company is composed of 24 1-in-1 power modules. Each module contains two SiC MOSFETs with an innovative die attach solution and connected directly on the terminals with copper clips and thermally dissipated by copper baseplates. The thermal dissipation of the modules is performed thanks to a specifically designed pin-fin heatsink.

“SiC MOSFET is manufactured with the latest STMicroelectronics technology design,” explains Dr. Elena Barbarini, Head of Department Devices at System Plus Consulting. “This technical choice allows reduction of conduction losses and switching losses”. STMicroelectronics is strongly involved in the development of SiC-based modules for the automotive industry. During its recent Capital Markets Day, the leading player details its activities in this field (Source: Automotive & Discrete Group presentation – May 2018). STMicroelectronics is also commited in the development of innovative packaging solutions. . System Plus Consulting proposes today a complete teardown analysis including a detailed estimation of the production cost of the module and its package.

PV has also caught the attention of Yole’s analysts during recent months. China claimed almost the half of the world’s installations in the last year. However due to new governmental regulations, Yole sees a slow down of the PV market in short term and has lowered its expectation of SiC penetration for the segment.

In general, system manufacturers are interested in implementing cost effective systems which are reliable, without any technology choice, either silicon or SiC. “Today, even if it’s certified that SiC performs better than silicon, system manufacturers still get questions about long term reliability and the total cost of the SiC inverter”, comments Ana Villamor, Technology & Market Analyst, Power Electronics & Compound Semiconductors at Yole.

Yole and System Plus Consulting teams will attend SEMICON Europa 2018 (Munich, Germany – November 13-16). During the leading trade show, Dr. Milan Rosina, Senior Technology & Market Analyst, Power Electronics & Batteries at Yole proposes a dedicated WBG presentation on November 15 at 2:30 PM.

SiC and GaN devices have demonstrated their large potential for power electronic applications. During the presentation “GaN and SiC power device: market overview” taken place during the Power Electronics Session, Dr. Rosina proposes an overview of the market, technology and the industrial supply chain. More information available on i-micronews.com, Conferences & Trade Shows section.

By Paula Doe, SEMI

The fast-maturing infrastructure that is enabling applications for big data and artificial intelligence means disruptive change not just at individual companies but also in data connections among companies across the microelectronics manufacturing value chain. SEMI checked in with some leading players on the changes they see coming in the next several years for this article series. The trade group is expanding its programming on smart manufacturing to address these industry-wide developments at SEMICON West, July 10-12 in San Francisco.

“The ramp of EUV, and the smaller geometries and smaller process margins, will drive an exponential increase in the amount of metrology data to manage,” says Neal Callan, ASML vice president, Silicon Valley. Callan notes that moving to multibeam e-beam inspection will increase data volume from megabytes per second to gigabytes per second and from thousands of data points to millions of data points. “The process is so tight and the margin so small that stochastic variation, or noise, becomes more dominant – at least it’s noise until we can learn to understand and control it. And understanding and controlling this variation will be key to delivering 5nm patterning,” he says.

Single-beam e-beam inspection is already driving large increases in data as engineers extend the slow technology to broad, high-speed defect metrology applications by more intelligently instructing the system where to look for problems. Callan says ASML is now using the scanner data on wafer focus, alignment and leveling. The company is also using the computational lithography model from the design to identify the smallest process windows in the pattern that are most likely to see problems. The model then quantifies the number and significance of those instances.

“The collection of all this diverse data means that tools will need to be plug-and-play so all tool data is instantly available to all systems and software,” says Doug Suerich, PEER Group product evangelist. “We need tools that can be discovered automatically by the network so it can start slurping up data immediately. The adoption of the Interface A (EDA) standard is accelerating and fabs are starting to ask for it. The proliferation of sensors also needs to self-discover. If you are going to add thousands of new sensors into a facility, you can’t afford a time-consuming integration process.”

“We are now seeing that engineers are greedy for more data – if they can get the data, it’s becoming a need-to-have,” adds Tom Ho, BISTel America president. “Getting more data from more sensors, from the sensors on the tool that are not being fully utilized, and from untapped data sources like vibration is another big coming opportunity.”

Process complexity drives demand for feed forward between silos with computational models

ASML co-optimizes its scanner process with etch and reticle process steps. Source: ASML

In addition to the drive for trace-back of data, the increasing complexity of interrelated processes is also driving demand for feed-forward of data. “Feed-forward is becoming more important,” notes Ho. He points to the example of 3D NAND features, now getting so deep that identifying the layer being measured is a challenge unless the signal at the step before can be recognized.

“We need partnerships with our peers to understand how to take advantage of the sensors they use, integrate them with our data, and then feed-forward corrections to the other systems,” concurs Callan. “To drive the best CD uniformity and overlay, we need to co-optimize litho and etch,” agrees Henk Niesing, ASML director of product management. He notes that the company is working with etcher makers to measure the overlay and CD, decompose the finger prints, and then use models to steer automated control that best adjusts both the scanner and the etcher. ASML is also working with Zeiss on co-optimization between the scanner and the reticle to make even higher-order corrections by locally modifying the reticle.

These higher-order corrections, applied on each exposed field, drive the need for even more data, and at higher speed but without higher cost, notes Jan Mulkens, ASML senior fellow. These corrections increase demand for computational metrology, which combines various metrology sources with physics and deep learning models trained on real data to predict and control process results in real time. “We’re working on computational metrology to ideally use all the knobs we have in the fab,” he says.

So far this effort has largely involved linking data between two companies. More consistent data formats would enable data exchange to be extended to more companies. “The software versions also need to be managed for upgrades so they still match after one party updates the system on its tool,“ notes Niesing.

Speakers on these issues of smart manufacturing and data handling at SEMICON West include Active Layer Parametrics, Applied Materials, Applied Research & Photonics, ASML, Cimetrix, Coventor, ECI Technologies, Edwards Vacuum, Final Phase Systems, GE Digital,  Infineon, Jabil, Lam Research, Osaro, Otosense, PEER Group, Rockwell Automation, Rudolph Technologies, Schneider Electric, Seagate, Seimens, Stanford University, TEL, TIBCO Software. See semiconwest.org

By Paula Doe, SEMI

The fast-maturing infrastructure now enabling applications for big data and artificial intelligence means disruptive change not just at individual companies but also in data connections among companies across the microelectronics manufacturing value chain. SEMI expands its smart manufacturing program with a Smart Manufacturing Pavilion with displays and three full days of talks to address these industry-wide developments at SEMICON West, July 10-12 in San Francisco.

Autonomous autos’ demand for zero-defect systems and 100 percent traceability back to the manufacturing data for each die is driving a push to traceability across the chip sector. “Far more chips are being used by the automotive sector, and its very different requirements are driving demand for traceability,” says Tom Ho, president of BISTel America. “Our chipmaker customers are looking for traceability solutions and the trend is the same in backend packaging and assembly – automotive applications are driving the sector to traceability.”

Traceability is also driven by the growth of systems in a package as fabless chipmakers look to connect back to the packaging companies’ fault analysis labs and die interconnect history to diagnose and fix the cases where known-good die are failing in the system, adds Mike Plisinski, CEO of Rudolph Technologies. Plisinski adds that makers of consumer products like phones that can also see harsh conditions are demanding higher quality and traceability as well.

The EMS sector also must establish an architecture for traceability to collect critical manufacturing-related data and to interface with OSATs and semiconductor fabs. The reason is that EMS companies are adding traditional OSAT processes such as assembly of products with bare die and complex optics modules requiring clean rooms. “A unified sand-to-smart-phone smart manufacturing roadmap should be established,” says Dan Gamota, vice president of  Engineering and Technology Services at Jabil. “We need to identify protocols for manufacturing data communications that can be adopted across the supply chain.”

To enable smart manufacturing, vendors need to collaborate on getting their production equipment to interoperate and support factory analytics and data management systems. Source: SEMI

One big challenge, of course, is how to format this diverse data so it can be linked and used by  various supply chain stakeholders. “Smart data needs to be contextual and it needs data standards across the supply chain so it’s easy to link from the front end to the back end, follow common lot IDs front and back end, and have a way to map streaming data from sensors to a discrete lot ID,” notes Ho. New approaches to metrology, analysis and test that increasingly exploit machine learning on simulations will also be needed to help predict which die and connections that test well now may fail in the future as conditions change.

Another issue is how to securely share the needed data across companies without jeopardizing IP. “On the equipment side we collect data across customers on how the tool is running to improve the equipment,” notes Neal Callan, ASML VP Silicon Valley. “Next we need to integrate performance and reliability data that today is not as well shared.”

 

The other big hurdle is how to pay for data sharing. “The challenge is that the final manufacturers reap the benefit of traceability, but since they expect their suppliers to deliver good die, they don’t want to pay more for it,” notes Plisinski.  He suggests that over the next two to three years, traceability and predictive fault prevention will become the norm as the automotive sector is compelled to invest in it to assure safety. Meanwhile, fabless companies will face so much complexity in integrating different die from different suppliers in SiP that they will no longer be able to afford to simply use the cheapest supplier, potentially driving a fundamental shift in relations and division of labor among fabless chipmakers, OSATs and fabs.

Standards extend across supply chain

SEMI member committees are collaborating to build the infrastructure to enable these developments. Standards committees are updating standards for higher bandwidth data exchange and extending semiconductor-like vertical and two-way horizontal equipment communication standards to flow shops to enable assembly players to optimize and trace back results across players. The SMT/PCBA community is integrating its smart manufacturing work into SEMI standards, and the SEMI A1 standard was a key reference document in the development of the Japan Robotics Association’s Equipment Link Protocol.

Speakers addressing these issues at SEMICON West include Active Layer Parametrics, Applied  Materials, Applied Research & Photonics, ASML, Bosch Rexroth, Cimetrix, Coventor, ECI Technologies, Edwards Vacuum, Final Phase Systems, GE Digital,  Infineon, Jabil, Lam Research, Osaro, Otosense, PEER Group, Qualcomm, Rockwell Automation, Rudolph Technologies, Schneider Electric, Seagate, Siemens, Stanford University, TEL, TIBCO Software. See semiconwest.org

Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited (Fujitsu Semiconductor) and United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC; TWSE:2303) (“UMC”), a global semiconductor foundry, today announced that UMC will acquire all of the shares of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited (MIFS), a 300mm wafer foundry joint venture between both companies.

In addition to the 15.9% of MIFS shares currently owned by UMC, Fujitsu Semiconductor will transfer the remaining 84.1% of its shares in MIFS to UMC, making MIFS a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Taiwan-based foundry. The consideration of the transaction will be around ¥ JPN 57.6 billion. The transfer is planned for January 1, 2019, pending approval by the relevant governmental authorities.

In 2014, both companies concluded an agreement for UMC to acquire a 15.9% stake in MIFS through progressive phases. Since then, besides equity investment, Fujitsu Semiconductor and UMC have been furthering their partnership through licensing of UMC’s 40nm technology and establishment of a 40nm logic production line at MIFS. After several years of joint operations, both companies have agreed on the benefits of integrating MIFS into UMC, which has a strong business foundation as a world leading semiconductor foundry with a broad customer portfolio, enhanced manufacturing expertise and extensive technology offerings enabling MIFS to maximize its values it can deliver to all stakeholders, including its customers.

As a member of UMC, MIFS will continue to provide foundry services of an even higher quality to its customers. While the name of the company and details of distribution after the transaction will soon be determined, for the present, MIFS will maintain its existing distribution channels for customers.

Jason Wang, co-president of UMC said, “UMC is experiencing high demand from mature 12″ processes. With new applications in 5G, IoT, automotive and AI requiring these technologies, we anticipate the market conditions driving this demand to remain strong for the foreseeable future. The acquisition of a fully qualified, equipped, and volume production proven 12″ facility provides greater time and ROI advantages compared to building a fab from scratch, which would cost several billion dollars and several years to construct and equip. With existing 300mm fabs in Taiwan, China and Singapore, Japan-based MIFS will help customers further diversify their manufacturing risk with a robust production base to ensure business continuity, which is especially important for automotive chip makers who require a stable and uninterrupted source of supply. UMC will also be able to leverage its decades of world class IC production experience with Japan’s local talent and world-renowned quality standards to better serve Japanese and international customers. We are excited that the strong partnership between UMC and Fujitsu Semiconductor will enable us to achieve further growth and provide customers with higher value through the acquisition of MIFS.”

“With its strengths in technology, such as ultra-low power consumption process technology, non-volatile memory technology for embedded applications, and RF and mmWave technology, as well as its highly reliable production system, as accepted by automotive customers, and its outstanding and experienced workforce, MIFS has been providing its customers with high quality foundry services” said Kagemasa Magaribuchi, President and Representative Director of Fujitsu Semiconductor. “To sustain its growth in the future and deliver far greater values to its customers, Fujitsu Semiconductor and MIFS have determined that it is the best to further enhance its competitiveness as a pure-play foundry by becoming a member of the UMC Group, a leading global semiconductor foundry. I expect that, by fully leveraging the UMC Group’s strengths, including its expertise and its cost competitiveness driven both by capital investment backed by ample financial resources as well as its globally expanded businesses, MIFS will further grow as a global company. I believe that the further growth of MIFS will also contribute to maintaining and expanding a workforce and to the local economy in the regions MIFS resides.”

Gases and engineering company The Linde Group, a supplier of electronic materials, is investing in the expansion of existing products to improve business continuity planning (BCP), while adding new products with improved purity to meet the growing needs of sub-10nm semiconductor factories and advanced flat panel manufacturers.

Expanded capacity of fluorine/nitrogen mixtures
Linde has expanded capacity for fluorine/nitrogen mixtures at Medford, Oregon for etching and chamber cleaning applications.

  • This allows both low- and high-pressure fluorine and nitrogen mixture production.
  • On-site high-purity fluorine production minimizes third-party supply issues.
  • The product line is expanding to include fluorine/argon mixtures in place with tri-mix       capability(fluorine/argon/nitrogen) later in 2018.
  • This facility complements fluorine mixture production at the Linde Alpha, New Jersey facility.

New precursors to meet customer requirements
New elements of innovation continue to emerge in CVD, ALD, and ALE precursors such as high-volume supply capabilities, process solutions to deliver quality in our advanced precursors and an applications lab to support new materials development. Linde is developing deposition precursors and etch gases: silicon precursors, digermanium mixtures, high K and metal gate precursors, isotope gases and etch gases such as CF3I (trifluoroiodomethane) and custom fluorinated silane.

“Linde recognizes that our customers continue to make investments in new processes and technologies, and we are committed to investing with them for the materials they will require now and in the future,” states Matt Adams, Head of Sales and Marketing for Linde Electronics and Specialty Products.

Linde Electronics will be exhibiting at the SEMICON West tradeshow in San Francisco July 10-12. Its focus will be on the quality, expertise, commitment and environmental leadership that Linde Electronics brings to the semiconductor industry through such offerings as electronic specialty gases, on-site solutions, materials recycling and recovery and SPECTRA® nitrogen plants.

SEMICON West is the annual tradeshow for the micro-electronics manufacturing industry. All visitors are welcome to visit Linde in booth number 5644 in the North hall in the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

SEMI today announced the formation of the SEMI Electronic Materials Group (EMG), a new collaborative technology community that combines the former Chemical & Gas Manufacturers Group (CGMG), the Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) and other SEMI member segments to better serve the interests of the electronics materials industry. The group is open to SEMI Members involved in materials manufacture, distribution and services throughout the microelectronics industry.

“Materials companies are the linchpin of innovation – enabling advances in technology across the microelectronics value chain – from sand to smartphones,” said Bart Pitcock, vice president and general manager, North America for KMG Electronic Chemicals and chair of the EMG Americas Chapter. “We are pleased to build out this SEMI platform to drive program collaboration, information exchange, issues management and communication to materials industry stakeholders including customers and policymakers.”

Electronic materials have played an increasingly important role in technology innovation as electronics move from IT-centric to ubiquitous computing across consumer, industrial and data management markets. The market size for wafer fabrication materials (US$ 28 billion), semiconductor packaging materials (US$ 19 billion), and electronics assembly materials (US$ 20 billion) reflects the critical importance of materials to the growth and expansion of the worldwide electronic manufacturing ecosystem.

To help manage growing interdependencies across the microelectronics supply chain, the EMG now represents all materials makers, aligning with the SEMI mission to serve members across the microelectronics design and manufacturing industries.

As the first SEMI technology community, the Silicon Manufacturers’ Group was instrumental in the evolution of SEMI and the industry, defining standards for silicon wafers, the substrate on which semiconductors are built.

“Members of the former Silicon Manufacturers’ Group are pleased to join forces with other companies that provide the critical materials that enable the worldwide electronics manufacturing industries,” said Neil Weaver, director, Product Development and Applications Engineering of Shin-Etsu Handotai America. “We see great value and mutual purpose in working with others in the electronics materials community to advance our common interests.”

The EMG will continue its mission to facilitate collective efforts on issues related to the microelectronics materials industry that are more effectively addressed by an industry association than by individual companies.

“We are pleased with the unanimous affirmation of the new community by SEMI regions and member segments worldwide,” said Tom Salmon, vice president of Collaborative Technology Platforms at SEMI.

Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTG), a developer of specialty chemicals and advanced materials solutions for the microelectronics industry, announced today that it acquired Flex Concepts, Inc., a technology company focused on bioprocessing single-use bags, and fluid transfer solutions for the life sciences industry. Flex Concepts’ quick-turn, custom-configured, single-use product technology is a complement to Entegris existing single-use bag product line. With this combination, Entegris is now able to provide customers with a comprehensive solution set to meet emerging bioprocessing requirements.

Regulatory-driven process and production changes to pharmaceutical products are bringing incredible advancements to this industry.  However, these advancements often require organizations to have highly-customized process solutions that can be delivered with speed to meet tight development timelines.  With the technology from Flex Concepts, Entegris is able to better equip its customers to deliver the next healthcare treatment or disease prevention tool with the speed and flexibility they need to succeed in the market.

“In the pharma development pipeline, the quicker a potential process is developed, the faster life-saving treatments can be made available to patients” says Eric Isberg director of Life Sciences, Entegris. “The addition of Flex Concepts capabilities will allow us to enrich our solutions set for fast growing single use bioprocessing applications.”

Neither the purchase price nor Flex Concepts financial results are material to Entegris overall financial statements.