Company News
-- Semiconductor International, 1/1/2001
Applied Materials Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.) opened its first building in Taiwan's Tainan Science-based Industrial Park. The new center is part of the company's four-phase facility investment plan in the region.GW Associates (Sunnyvale, Calif.) partnered with Therma-Wave Inc. (Fremont, Calif.) to provide full automation-ready 300 mm equipment, based on the GWconX300 software package. Over the next few months, GWconX300 will add other features for 300 mm.
Karl Suss (Munich, Germany) acquired MFI Technologies (San Jose) to allow Suss to expand solutions down to 0.10 µm. Although fully owned by Suss, the company will continue to operate under the name MFI Technologies.
Camstar Systems Inc. (Campbell, Calif.) received a $22M investment led by HarbourVest Partners LLC. The funding will be used to further expand into supply chain network management and manufacturing execution.
ASM Europe BV (Bilthoven, Netherlands) signed a lease for a 4500 m2 assembly and test facility dedicated to the production of its A412 300 mm vertical furnace. The facility will be equipped with ~1700 m2 Class 10,000 cleanroom space for assembly and test with a dedicated Class 1000 area for shipment preparation and packing. The new facility is scheduled to start operating in Q2 2001 and be fully operational by Q4 of this year.
The SEZ Group (Villach, Austria) received a $5.5M multiple system order from a Taiwanese foundry for its Spin-Processor 4200. Delivery is expected during the first half of 2001.
ChipPAC Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.) acquired VIKO Test Labs with facilities in Santa Clara and Austin, Texas. This will enhance ChipPAC's support in the development phase of its customers' products.
Asymtek (Carlsbad, Calif.) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT, Rochester, N.Y.) entered into joint research on the material-machine interactions of commercially available no-flow underfill materials. RIT will design and perform the study using a Century C-718 automated fluid dispensing system equipped with a DispenseJet valve donated by Asymtek. The study will compare non-contact jetting vs. traditional contact needle dispensing.
Nissei Sangyo America Scientific Instruments Division of Hitachi Scientific plans to relocate its headquarters from Mountain View, Calif., to Pleasanton, Calif., early this year. The Pleasanton facility will more than double Hitachi's current space and feature a Class 100 cleanroom, an expanded demonstration laboratory, training facilities, classrooms and conference rooms.
Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. (Willow Grove, Pa.) signed a definitive agreement to acquire Probe Technology Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.). The acquisition will be made in cash, with the total purchase price expected to be about $65M. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the agreement.
Adept Technologies Inc. (San Jose) signed a new property lease to expand its manufacturing and R&D facilities in Livermore, Calif. The ~75,000 ft2 location will be occupied in early 2001 and includes an option for an additional 145,050 ft2 location.
Credence Systems Corp. (Fremont, Calif.) received a $15M order for multiple Quartet test systems from BridgePoint Technical Manufacturing (Austin, Texas). The systems will be used to test medical and telecommunications mixed-signal devices. Installation of the first system has already begun, and future equipment installations will take place over the coming months.
Cohu Inc. (San Diego) agreed to acquire a 338,000 ft2 building on ~20 acres in Poway, Calif., for the purchase price of $21.3M. The company plans to sell its facilities in San Diego and move corporate headquarters and the San Diego operations of its Delta Design subsidiary to the Poway facility in 2001.
Pentagon Technologies Inc. (Fremont, Calif.) opened its fifth semiconductor parts cleaning and reconditioning facility. This new 30,000 ft2 facility in Portland, Ore., will service the greater Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain region. It is set to be fully operational in May.
Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Kyoto, Japan) is building a production plant for 300 mm wafer cleaning equipment. Located in the company's Hikone manufacturing site in the Shiga Prefecture, Japan, the plant is expected to be complete by March.
California Micro Devices (Milpitas, Calif.) licensed its termination technology, EZTerm. The technology is a semiconductor circuit that can be designed into the IC at the input or input/output pin.
