05/04/2005  (May 04, 2005) Chandler, Ariz.—Amkor Technology Inc.'s first quarter 2005 sales totaled $418 million, down 8% sequentially, and down 10% from the first quarter of 2004. The company's first quarter net loss was $119 million and included a provision for legal settlements, with no tax benefit, of $50 million.

05/02/2005  (May 2, 2005) Taipei, Taiwan — ASE Test Limited announces a first-quarter diluted loss of $0.14 per share, which ended March 31, 2005, under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (U.S. GAAP), compared with diluted earnings of $0.08 per share one year ago, and a diluted loss of $0.41 per share in the fourth quarter of 2004.

05/02/2005  May 2, 2005 - Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. yesterday reported a fire at its semiconductor packaging and testing facilities in Chungli, Taiwan, which caused damage and injuries, but no deaths. The fire broke out at one of ASE's production buildings at approximately 2 pm following what it suspects was a boiler explosion on the ground floor of the 11-story building. The fire was contained by firefighters within two hours.

04/19/2005  (April 19, 2005) San Diego, Calif. — KIC has recently promoted Marybeth (MB) Allen to the position of General Manager - Europe, in which she will develop the KIC thermal-process products market throughout Europe. Lead-free conversion is driving European manufacturers to improve their thermal processes; therefore, the European market is seeking new tools, such as KIC's profilers and process optimization and control tools.

04/12/2005  Nashua, N.H. — Advanced Packaging Magazine is looking for your latest and greatest products to feature in our July 2005 SEMICON West 2005 Product Preview. If your company plans on exhibiting at SEMICON West 2005, to be held July 11-15, 2005, in San Francisco, Calif., please submit your product press release, preferably with an accompanying electronic image*, to Lee Mather, Advanced Packaging assistant editor, by May 10, 2005.

04/08/2005  (April 8, 2005) Atlanta, Ga. — Rao R. Tummala, Pettit Chair Professor in Microsystems Packaging at the Georgia Institute of Technology's (Georgia Tech) Packaging Research Center, and Advanced Packaging Editorial Advisory Board member, has recently authored the industry's first introductory textbook in microsystems packaging, appropriately titled, Fundamentals of Microsystems Packaging.

04/07/2005  Market analysts sometimes get a bad rap – for being overly optimistic, overemphasizing a trend or being just plain wrong. But when the data gathering's done and the modeling completed, it's still as much an art as a science. Small Times' David Forman turned the tables on four analysts, putting them in the position of answering rather than asking the questions.

04/05/2005  (April 5, 2005) Nashua, N.H. — Advanced Packaging Magazine, along with sister publications Connector Specifier and SMT Magazines, announce the appointment of Jay Regan to group publisher.

04/05/2005  (April 5, 2005) Palo Alto, Calif. — Innovation's slow rate in the recovering telecom market is holding back the rapid expansion of the micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)-based components market. Although MEMS technology is important, time-based value engineering in a potentially high-demand industry compels vendors to adopt different strategies to stay active in a price-sensitive market.

04/01/2005  Every now and then, it’s especially good to step out of your normal activities and see what’s going on at other companies and universities.

04/01/2005  The major assembly and test subcontractors ended 2004 with revenues up significantly over 2003, but with a slowing trend leading into 2005.

04/01/2005  Packaging Technology Ready For Change

03/22/2005  (March 22, 2005) San Jose, Calif. — Tessera Technologies announces that it has signed a technology licensing agreement with Fujitsu Limited, a provider of IT and communications solutions for the global marketplace.

03/14/2005  (March 14, 2005) Aylesbury, U.K. — Dage Holdings Ltd. announces the completion of the final phase of its strategy to focus on its test and inspection products. This has been brought about through the sale of its contract manufacturing division to a subsidiary of TT electronics plc.

03/11/2005  (March 11, 2005) Dublin, Ireland — Research and Markets announces the release of their new report, "Packaging and Assembly Services for MST/MEMS — Worldwide", to their current offering. The infrastructure for MST/MEMS development and production is growing fast—many foundries and design houses have been established over the past few years which cover most, if not all of the required technologies for commercializing nano- and micro-technology.

03/04/2005  Nashua, N.H.—Advanced Packaging invites you to participate in our 5th annual Advanced Packaging Awards, which recognize and celebrate the innovation of semiconductor packaging technologies and products. The deadline for entry has been extended to May 27, 2005. For the official entry form, click here.

03/04/2005  (March 4, 2005) Napa, Calif. — Royce Instruments has enhanced its global product sales and support organization with new distributors in Taiwan, France, and Germany. Each will handle sales and service in their respective regions of the Royce line of bond test, semiautomatic and automatic die handling, and photonics die handling and test systems.

03/02/2005  (March 2, 2005) Hong Kong and Pleasanton, Calif. — ASAT Holdings Limited announces that SigmaTel Inc. has completed qualification and is ramping production on lead-free and green fine-pitch BGAs (fpBGAs) in ASAT's new manufacturing facility in Dongguan, China.

03/01/2005  (March 1, 2005) Midland, Mich. — Dow Corning introduces EA-6700 microelectronic adhesive, a new lid-seal material based on a chemistry that is suited for the latest generations of flip chip semiconductor packages. Adhesives for lid assembly, also referred to as cap assembly, are integral to the production of flip chip devices. To ensure device reliability, lid-seal adhesives face the challenge of withstanding high humidity, temperature cycling, and extreme operating conditions.

03/01/2005  (March 1, 2005) Chaska, Minn. — Entegris announces that they have signed a license patent agreement with one of its three Japanese competitors in the wafer-carrier market. The agreement includes royalty payments to Entegris for past and future shipments of 300-mm wafer carriers by the Japanese company. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, nor was the Japanese company identified.