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North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.24 billion in orders worldwide in November 2015 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.96, according to the November EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.  A book-to-bill of 0.96 means that $96 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide bookings in November 2015 was $1.24 billion. The bookings figure is 6.7 percent lower than the final October 2015 level of $1.33 billion, and is 1.7 percent higher than the November 2014 order level of $1.22 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in November 2015 was $1.29 billion. The billings figure is 5.2 percent lower than the final October 2015 level of $1.36 billion, and is 8.3 percent higher than the November 2014 billings level of $1.19 billion.

“The semiconductor equipment book-to-bill ratio continued to decelerate in the fourth quarter,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.  “In light of this recent softening and with the currently strong U.S. dollar, SEMI anticipates that the total equipment market (billings) will be flat to slightly down this year vs. last year as reported in U.S. dollars.”

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

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Bookings
(3-mo. avg)

Book-to-Bill
June 2015

$1,554.9

$1,517.4

0.98
July 2015

$1,556.2

$1,587.3

1.02
August 2015

$1,575.9

$1,670.1

1.06
September 2015

$1,495.0

$1,554.9

1.04
October 2015

$1,358.6

$1,325.6

0.98
November 2015 (prelim)

$1,287.9

$1,237.1

0.96

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), December 2015

SEMI projects that worldwide sales of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment will decrease 0.6 percent to $37.3 billion in 2015, according to the SEMI Year-end Forecast, released today at the annual SEMICON Japan exposition.  In 2016, nominal positive growth is expected, resulting in a global market increase of 1.4 percent.

The SEMI Year-end Forecast predicts that wafer processing equipment, the largest product segment by dollar value, is anticipated to increase 0.7 percent in 2015 to total $29.5 billion. The “Other Front End” category (fab facilities, mask/reticle, and wafer manufacturing equipment) is expected to increase 20.6 percent in 2015. The forecast predicts that the market for assembly and packaging equipment will decrease by 16.4 percent to $2.6 billion in 2015 and that the market for semiconductor test equipment is forecast to decrease by 7.4 percent, totaling $3.3 billion this year.

For 2015, Taiwan, South Korea, North America, remain the largest spending regions, with investments in Japan approaching North American levels.  SEMI forecasts that in 2016, equipment sales in Europe will climb to $3.4 billion (63.1 percent increase over 2015). After a 13 percent contraction for Europe in 2015, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Infineon, Intel, and STMicroelectronics are all expected to significantly accelerate fab equipment spending in 2016, resulting in strong growth in the region in 2016.  In Rest of World, essentially Southeast Asia, sales will reach $2.5 billion (25.7 percent increase), the China market will total $5.3 billion (9.1 percent increase), and North America equipment spending will reach $5.9 billion (6.1 percent increase). The equipment markets in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan are expected to contract in 2016.

The following results are given in terms of market size in billions of U.S. dollars:

Year_End_image_600px

The Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) from SEMI provides comprehensive market data for the global semiconductor equipment market. A subscription includes three reports: the monthly SEMI Book-to-Bill Report, which offers an early perspective of the trends in the equipment market; the monthly Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (SEMS), a detailed report of semiconductor equipment bookings and billings for seven regions and over 22 market segments; and the SEMI Year-end Forecast, which provides an outlook for the semiconductor equipment market.

TSMC this week submitted an application to the Investment Commission of Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs for an investment project to build a wholly-owned 12-inch wafer manufacturing facility and a design service center in Nanjing, China.

The planned capacity of the facility is 20,000 12-inch wafers per month, and would be scheduled to begin volume production of 16nm process technology in the second half of 2018. The design service center is aimed at establishing TSMC’s design ecosystem in China. TSMC will commence the investment project upon receiving the approval from the Investment Commission.

‘In view of the rapid growth of the Chinese semiconductor market, we have decided to establish a 12-inch wafer fab and a design service center in China to provide closer support to our customers there and to further expand our business opportunities,’ said TSMC Chairman Dr. Morris Chang.

SEMI, the global industry association for companies that supply manufacturing technology and materials to the world’s chip makers, this week reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached US$9.6 billion in the third quarter of 2015. The billings figure is 3 percent higher than the second quarter of 2015 and 9 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago. The data is gathered jointly with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from over 100 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.

Worldwide semiconductor equipment bookings were $8.7 billion in the third quarter of 2015. The figure is 7 percent lower than the same quarter a year ago and 14 percent lower than the bookings figure for the second quarter of 2015.

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

 

3Q2015

2Q2015

3Q2014

3Q15/2Q15 (Qtr-over-Qtr)

3Q15/3Q14
(Year-over-Year)
Taiwan

2.85

2.34

2.30

22%

24%
China

1.70

1.04

0.96

63%

78%
Korea

1.56

2.00

1.00

-22%

56%
Japan

1.43

1.40

1.10

2%

30%
North America

1.18

1.55

2.16

-23%

-45%
Rest of World

0.58

0.53

0.64

9%

-10%
Europe

0.34

0.52

0.66

-36%

-49%
Total

9.64

9.39

8.82

3%

9%

Source: SEMI/SEAJ December 2015; Note: Figures may not add due to rounding.

The Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) from SEMI provides comprehensive market data for the global semiconductor equipment market.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. and Freescale Semiconductor, Ltd. announced the completion of the merger pursuant to the terms of the previously announced merger agreement from March 2015. The merger has created a high performance mixed signal semiconductor industry leader, with combined revenue of over $10 billion. The merged entity will continue operations as NXP Semiconductors N.V. and has become the market leader in automotive semiconductor solutions and in general purpose microcontroller (MCU) products.

“Through this merger we have created an industry powerhouse focused on the high growth opportunities in the Smarter World, capitalizing on the emerging opportunities offered by the accelerating demand for connectivity, processing and security. Today’s formation of the new NXP is a transformative step on our journey to become the industry leader in high performance mixed signal solutions,” said Rick Clemmer, NXP Chief Executive Officer. “This merger enables us to deliver more complete solutions to our customers as we are emerging as the leader in the Secure Connections – and the supporting infrastructure – for the Smarter World domain. As a result, we reiterate today that we fully expect to continue to significantly out-grow the overall market, drive world-class profitability and generate even more cash, allowing us to continue creating significant value for NXP’s shareholders.”

As previously announced, the transaction is expected to be accretive to NXP non-GAAP earnings in 2016, and NXP anticipates achieving cost savings of $200 million in 2016 with a clear path to $500 million of annual cost synergies.

NXP also today announced the closing of the divestiture of its RF Power business to Jianguang Asset Management Co. Ltd (“JAC Capital”), after receiving official confirmation that JAC Capital has deposited the required funds at its bank in China to pay the purchase price. The cash proceeds for the sale will be received later this month following the required regulatory filings for cross-border transfers of funds from China. NXP has obtained bridge financing until the funds are received.

Related news: 

NXP-Freescale merger to result in world’s eighth largest chip maker

Freescale and NXP agree to $40 Billion merger

Historic era of consolidation for chip makers

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $29.0 billion for the month of October 2015, 1.9 percent higher than the previous month’s total of $28.4 billion and 2.5 percent lower than the October 2014 total of $29.7 billion. The Americas market posted 3.9 percent growth compared to last month, leading all regions. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. Additionally, a new WSTS industry forecast projects slight market growth for the next three years.

“Global semiconductor sales have shown signs of stabilizing in recent months, with October marking the third straight month of month-to-month growth,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Year-to-date sales are narrowly ahead of where they were through the same time last year, and slight growth is projected for next year and beyond.”

Month-to-month sales increased across all regional markets: the Americas (3.9 percent), China (1.6 percent), Europe (1.2 percent), Japan (0.4 percent), and Asia Pacific/All Other (1.7 percent). Compared to October 2014, sales were up in China (5.7 percent), but down in the Americas (-5.6 percent), Europe (-9.4), Japan (-10.5 percent), and Asia Pacific/All Other (-2.4 percent).

Additionally, SIA endorsed the WSTS Autumn 2015 global semiconductor sales forecast, which projects the industry’s worldwide sales will reach $336.4 billion in 2015, a 0.2 percent increase from the 2014 sales total. WSTS projects year-to-year increases for 2015 in Asia Pacific (3.9 percent), with decreases projected for the Americas (-0.6 percent), Europe (-8.2 percent), and Japan (-10.3 percent).

Beyond 2015, the global market is expected to grow at a modest pace. WSTS forecasts 1.4 percent growth globally for 2016 ($341.0 billion in total sales) and 3.1 percent growth for 2017 ($351.6 billion). WSTS tabulates its semi-annual industry forecast by convening an extensive group of global semiconductor companies that provide accurate and timely indicators of semiconductor trends.

October 2015

Billions

Month-to-Month Sales                               

Market

Last Month

Current Month

% Change

Americas

5.82

6.05

3.9%

Europe

2.87

2.90

1.2%

Japan

2.69

2.70

0.4%

China

8.45

8.58

1.6%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.58

8.72

1.7%

Total

28.41

28.96

1.9%

Year-to-Year Sales                          

Market

Last Year

Current Month

% Change

Americas

6.41

6.05

-5.6%

Europe

3.21

2.90

-9.4%

Japan

3.01

2.70

-10.5%

China

8.12

8.58

5.7%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.94

8.72

-2.4%

Total

29.68

28.96

-2.5%

Three-Month-Moving Average Sales

Market

May/Jun/Jul

Aug/Sept/Oct

% Change

Americas

5.51

6.05

9.7%

Europe

2.83

2.90

2.5%

Japan

2.63

2.70

2.3%

China

8.18

8.58

5.0%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.71

8.72

0.2%

Total

27.87

28.96

3.9%

Imec, the nano electronics research center and Coventor, a supplier of semiconductor process development tools, today announced the expansion of a joint development project to explore process variation issues in 7nm semiconductor technology.

For over a year, the joint team has been using Coventor’s semiconductor process modeling platform, SEMulator3D, to perform predictive modeling of semiconductor fabrication processes and to proactively analyze process variation issues in 7nm semiconductor technology.  The collaboration has now been expanded beyond logic-only devices to include 3D NAND Flash, STT-MRAM, and other device types.

“Leveraging Coventor’s technical expertise and its SEMulator3D platform has enabled us to solve real-world semiconductor integration and processing problems at the 7nm node,” said An Steegen, senior vice president of process technology at imec.   “Our joint collaboration is helping the entire semiconductor industry lower the risks associated with moving to the latest process technologies by providing customers with proven, tested process development platforms and advancing the availability, yield and cost of next-generation semiconductor technology.”

A highlight of the collaboration has been a massive process simulation experiment to explore the effect of process variability in 7nm BEOL (back end of line) fabrication processes.   Researchers used SEMulator3D to simulate an entire window of process variability, which would have required more than one million actual semiconductor wafers if conventional testing methods were used. This experiment was made possible by the robust virtual fabrication environment of SEMulator3D using a fully codified 7nm process flow, along with the ability to support parallel distributed computing and a novel algorithm for submitting variation cases to the simulator.  With these powerful tools, the team was able to produce key findings that will help advance 7nm semiconductor technology.

“We have worked with imec to accelerate the state of the art in semiconductor process technology useful in a broad range of next-generation devices such as Logic, 3D NAND Flash, STT-MRAM, and others,” said David Fried, Chief Technical Officer at Coventor. “By providing our customers with a comprehensive virtual fabrication environment, plus our combined expertise, Coventor and imec are reducing the time and cost associated with moving to these emerging semiconductor nodes.”

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today announced the SIA Board of Directors has elected Dr. Necip Sayiner, President, CEO and Director of Intersil, as its 2016 Chair and Tunç Doluca, President and CEO of Maxim Integrated, as its 2016 Vice Chair.

“We are thrilled to welcome Necip Sayiner as SIA’s 2016 Chair,” said John Neuffer, SIA President and CEO. “Necip has a proven record of leadership, a strong technical background, and a firm command of the challenges facing our industry – attributes that will serve him well as SIA Chair in the year ahead.”

Dr. Sayiner joined Intersil as President, CEO and Director in March 2013. Prior to joining Intersil, he served as President, CEO and Director of Silicon Laboratories from September 2005 to April 2012. Sayiner held various other leadership positions at Agere Systems Inc., which included Executive Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise and Networking Division from August 2004 to September 2005; and Vice President and General Manager, Networking ICs Division from March 2002 to August 2004. Dr. Sayiner holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Physics from Bosphorus University in Turkey, an M.S. in Engineering from Southern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

“The semiconductor industry is the foundation of the U.S. tech sector and an important element of a healthy economy,” said Sayiner. “I look forward to helping advance policies in the year ahead that strengthen our industry by promoting innovation, growth, and open markets.”

Tunç Doluca joined Maxim in 1984 as a Member of Technical Staff and was named the company’s Vice President of R&D in 1993. In 2007, Tunç became the second CEO in the company’s history. During his tenure as CEO, Maxim reorganized product development around end markets and completed nine strategic acquisitions. He oversaw the transition of Maxim’s manufacturing to a more flexible hybrid production model and improved overall manufacturing execution. Tunç was born in Ankara, Turkey, and he holds a BSEE degree from Iowa State University and an MSEE degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“For more than 30 years, Tunç Doluca has been an outstanding leader for Maxim and a devoted champion for our industry,” said Neuffer. “We look forward to putting his skills and experience to use as 2016 SIA Vice Chair.”

“I’m excited to take on a leadership role for SIA in support of the U.S. semiconductor industry,” said Doluca. “We face tremendous opportunities and unprecedented challenges in the coming year, and I look forward to getting to work to help move our industry forward.”

SEMI Foundation, created by global industry association SEMI to support education and career awareness in the field of high-tech, has announced the appointment of Leslie Tugman as its executive director. SEMI Foundation is known for its flagship program, SEMI High Tech U, which serves high school students interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Plans are underway to expand SEMI Foundation’s activities under Tugman’s leadership to include workforce development programs.

“Leslie has been a key member of the SEMI Foundation team for the past 15 years, helping delivering over 190 High Tech U programs that have reached more than 6,000 students and teachers since the foundation’s inception in 2002,” said Art Zafiropoulo, chairman and CEO of Ultratech, and founding member of the SEMI Foundation board of directors. “Leslie’s thorough understanding of the High Tech U program and her passion and experience for workforce development will ensure continuity and quality of programs as we look to expand the foundation’s activities as part of our 2020 strategic initiatives.”

SEMI has long been at the center of the electronics supply chain representing its more than 1,900 corporate members.  As the electronics supply chain has become increasingly interdependent, SEMI’s platforms have been ever more relied on to bring the extended electronics supply chain together for collaboration.  Additionally, SEMI recently named FlexTech as a Strategic Association Partner providing this vital Flexible Hybrid Electronics community access to SEMI’s global platforms and adjacent opportunities for SEMI members. Now that the SEMI Foundation is a mature entity with established leadership, it is well-positioned to expand in complementary new directions.

“I am excited about this appointment, and look forward to the opportunity to work with the board and take the SEMI Foundation to the next level,” said Tugman. “The foundation is more than High Tech U; we are embarking on workforce development initiatives that address the pipeline for members in a near-term way.”

While with SEMI High Tech U, Tugman was president of WorkForce Resources, Inc.  Prior to that, she served as the business development director for Business Education Compact in Portland, Oregon, delivering workforce development programs focused on educator internships. Career milestones include deputy executive directorship of the Texas Water Development Board, and assistant land commissioner with the Texas General Land Office.

SEMI High Tech U provides secondary school students with an intensive, industry-led introduction to the high tech industry, potential career paths and education requirements to meet their goals.

SEMI High Tech U provides secondary school students with an intensive, industry-led introduction to the high tech industry, potential career paths and education requirements to meet their goals.

Students and teachers participate in hands-on activities that focus on topics including statistics, nanotechnology, solar and alternative energy technologies, electronics and mathematics. Students also work on soft skills and participate in mock job interviews with industry professionals.

Students and teachers participate in hands-on activities that focus on topics including statistics, nanotechnology, solar and alternative energy technologies, electronics and mathematics. Students also work on soft skills and participate in mock job interviews with industry professionals.

Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced that it has decided on a policy of consolidation for the Kochi Factory (Konan, Kochi Prefecture) of its wholly owned subsidiary, Renesas Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Under this consolidation policy, the factory is to be closed within the next two to three years, and production of the products currently being manufactured there will be transferred to other facilities within the Renesas Group or, in the case of some products, phased out. In the news release, Renesas Electronics Shows Direction of Renesas Group, announced on August 2, 2013, Renesas Electronics indicated its intention with regard to the Kochi Factory to continue production, downsizing to be appropriate scale. However, after reexamining the present production load situation and the likely future production load, Renesas has concluded that the production load will be less than was initially anticipated and that maintaining the profitability of the Kochi Factory will be problematic.

Efforts were made to boost production efficiency at the Kochi Factory or to find another company willing to purchase it, however, at present there appears to be no way to compensate for the reduction in the production load. Therefore, Renesas has decided on a policy of consolidation for the Kochi Factory.

Negotiations are planned between labor and management regarding the treatment of the factory’s employees during and after the consolidation, though every effort will be made to ensure continued employment of the affected personnel, with the assistance of Kochi Prefecture.

In addition, with regard to the utilization of the Kochi Factory following the consolidation, Renesas will endeavor to secure a purchaser for the facility with the assistance of Kochi Prefecture.