The latest news and information on semiconductor manufacturing business and market research, including company revenue reports, mergers & acquisitions, industry forecasts, and market research reports.
TSMC Ramping Aggressive CPU Process Push David Lammers, News Editor - 04/29/2008
TSMC is “hiring aggressively” to develop a technology platform for CPU production, said CEO Rick Tsai. While conceding that TSMC’s process technology has lagged Intel’s thus far, Tsai said TSMC expects its processor production to “blossom” starting in 2010. More
Pure-play foundries comprise 84% of market, IC Insights says By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor - 05/09/2008
In its ranking of the top IC foundries for 2007, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based market research company IC Insights Inc reported this week that 11 of the top 14 foundries are based in the Asia-Pacific region, with only one - Europe-headquartered X-Fab, which merged with 1st Silicon in 2006 -- the only non-Asia-Pacific pure-play foundry company in the top 14 group.
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TSMC, UMC April sales up y/y, q/q By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor - 05/09/2008
Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co reported sales for April on an unconsolidated basis were up 5.8% sequentially over March, and 24.8% higher year-over-year from April 2007, while Taipei, Taiwan-based United Microelectronics Corp reported April revenue was up 4.8% over April 2007, and less than 1% higher than March sales.
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Intel, Samsung, TSMC want 450-mm wafer pilot line in 2012 By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor - 05/05/2008
In a push for the 450-mm semiconductor wafer size, which some in the semiconductor industry still don’t believe will actually come to fruition, three industry goliaths – microprocessor giant Intel Corp, memory leader Samsung Electronics and leading semiconductor foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co – said they have “reached agreement” that the industry needs to start working together to transition to the 450-mm wafer size.
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Qimonda Enters Solar Cell Manufacturing With Centrosolar Staff - 05/05/2008
DRAM maker Qimonda AG will partner with Centrosolar AG to build a solar cell manufacturing plant in Vila do Conde, Portugal. The plant will make 30 million solar cells per year when it begins production next year.
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Hadfield: No Urgency in Washington Laura Peters, Editor-in-Chief - 05/05/2008
Vicky Hadfield, president of SEMI North America, said there is little sense of urgency when it comes to technology matters in Washington.
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Pinto: Grid Parity Coming Soon Laura Peters, Editor-in-Chief - 05/01/2008
Depending on where you live in the world, grid parity for solar energy is coming soon or has already arrived, according to Mark Pinto, general manager of Applied Materials’ Energy and Environmental Solutions (Santa Clara, Calif). Speaking at the SEMI Strategic Business Conference in Napa Valley, Calif., Pinto said many countries in Europe are approaching grid parity with conventional forms of providing electricity, including oil, coal and natural gas.
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Memory weakness masking healthy semi sales growth, SIA says By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor - 05/01/2008
With weakness in memory revenue from price erosion masking the overall strength of semiconductor sales, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported today that worldwide sales of semiconductors in Q1 reached $63.4 billion, which was 3.8% higher than $61.1 billion in Q1 2007, but 5.1% lower than $66.8 billion in Q4 2007. Excluding memory products, total semiconductor sales increased by 11% year-over-year.
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Views on News David Lammers, News Editor, Semiconductor International May 6, 2008 The Other 450 mm Shoe
The three companies openly pushing for 450 mm wafers are working on a plan to subsidi... More
Dan Herr is director of Nanomanufacturing Science Research at SRC. An important part of his research focuses on nanotechnology’s demands on metrology, and he discusses his work to determine where metrology technology’s gaps are, and how to fill them.
Let's Kick It Up a Notch Laura Peters, Editor-in-Chief, 05/01/2008
In her new role as Editor-in-Chief, Laura Peters explains how Semiconductor International will continue to do what it does best, but will keep pushing to the next level....
Roundtable: Technology Transfer – From Lab to Manufacture Alexander E. Braun, Senior Editor, 01/14/2008 In a roundtable session, experts give their experiences on overcoming the hurdles involved in the transfer of technology from the various R&D sites across academia to the industry sector — where the realities of developing a concept into a manufacturable product take place. It is a matter of ever-increasing importance, particularly as corporations across every industry increasingly outsource much of their R&D efforts....
Fab Spending Tapers in 2008 Christian Gregor Dieseldorff, SEMI, San Jose, 01/01/2008
Megafabs will soon be dwarfed by $9B-10B "monster" fabs, with 200,000 wpm (in 300 mm) capacity. Because of the expected increase in demand for memory chips, mainly flash, this trend will not be slowed by reduced capex spending in 2008....
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Let's Kick It Up a Notch
