Intel Upgrades Shanghai Plant for Pentium Assembly Santa Clara, Calif.-Microprocessor leader Intel Corp. will soon begin CPU assembly at its upgraded plant in Shanghai, China. The renovated facility will perform assembly and test of Pentium 4 micro-processors. Over the last few years, Intel spent some $300 million on capability improvements to make the plant ready for the company's flagship CPU.
The Shanghai plant originally produced flash memory devices. As part of a planned expansion last year, Intel pumped $100 million into the facility to ready it for chipset assembly and test. By the end of the year, Intel's total investment in the Shanghai operation will reach $500 million. Intel's Asia-Pacific region accounted for 38 percent of revenues for the quarter ended December 31, the fourth consecutive quarter as the company's top revenue generator. [intel.com]
Amkor Technology Will Consolidate Two S. Korean Manufacturing Facilities Chandler, Ariz.-Assembly leader Amkor Technology Inc., reeling from the effects of a two-year-long industry recession, will consolidate two of its Korea-based plants to "increase operational efficiency." Amkor will transfer most of the assembly operations from its 271,000 ft2 K2 site in Bucheon, S. Korea, into its one million ft.2 factory, designated K4, in Kwangju, S. Korea.
Amkor expects to close K2 during the next quarter. Last year, Amkor recorded revenue of $1.6 billion, an 8 percent increase over 2001. The company's net loss, however, was $827 million, or $5.04/share, compared to a net loss of $335 million, or $2.13/share for the prior year.
Amkor also reported the sale of its wafer fabrication services business for $62 million. "This divestiture will allow Amkor to focus totally on our core competency of assembly and test," reported James Kim, chairman/CEO. "Over the past two years, we have positioned Amkor for the next phase of our growth by expanding into China, Japan and Taiwan," Kim added. Each of these new markets offers exciting growth opportunities for Amkor." "During 2002, our business recovered nicely from the trough level reached in late 2001, and our core assembly and test revenue has outpaced the semiconductor industry, reflecting the strength of the outsourcing trend," said Amkor President John Boruch. "The global economy remains sluggish," Boruch added, "and we believe the semiconductor industry is in the midst of a pause that should last through at least the first quarter of 2003." [amkor.com]
RVSI Inc. Says Its Survival Hinges on Semi Group Purchase Canton, Mass.-Robotic Vision Systems Inc., which reported a $19.62 million loss on revenues of $14.88 million, or $0.32/share for Q4 2002, said recently that the company's survival is contingent on the sale of its Semiconductor Equipment Group (SEG). For the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2002, RVSI recorded a net loss of $41.77 million on revenues of $59.24 million, or $0.84/share. In late January, RVSI reported that the company planned to close its facilities in Tucson, Ariz., and New Berlin, Wis., as part of the final stage of consolidation begun 18 months ago. The Arizona and Wisconsin activities will now be concentrated at RVSI's Hauppauge, N.Y., facility. In a press release, which he amplified upon during the company's January webcast, Chairman/CEO Pat V. Costa said, "If we don't succeed in selling the Semiconductor Equipment Group, RVSI will have insufficient working capital to continue in business." The SEG includes four product lines, RVSI Electronics lead scanning equipment, RVSI bumped wafer inspection tools, Vanguard ball attach and System-ation tape and reel systems. RVSI has been looking for a buyer since mid-September. "To date, we have held discussions with multiple parties interested in acquiring that business. Costa admitted, however, that even if SEG is sold, "There can be no assurance that the proceeds of a sale will be sufficient to finance our remaining business." Costa added, that despite the downturn, sales at Acuity CiMatrix, the company's machine vision and data matrix-related products division, rose 11.6 percent "in a year in which our...competitors saw either no growth or falling sales." Contacted prior to press time, Neal Sanders, RVSI's vice president for corporate development, said, "We continue to be in discussions." [rvsi.com]
Siliconware Precision Advances While Amkor Stays Number One Phoenix-Taiwan's Siliconware Precision Industries Ltd. (SPIL) was the only major IC packaging foundry with 2002 sales ahead of its year 2000 numbers, according to Robert C. Marrs, president of PackageTrends. Amkor, meanwhile, retained the top position. The total contract assembly and test market grew $654 million to $4.5 billion in 2002, but was still 22 percent below record 2000 levels," PackageTrends reported. Overall, says Marrs, "It was a mixed year for the chip packaging subcons." The top five kept their positions (see table below), while STATS pulled ahead of ASAT to number 6. Despite a 14.6 percent year-to-year growth in IC package unit volume-with package units only 9 percent behind prior levels in 2000-ASPs continued to fall. Profitability, says PackageTrends, "was marginal or absent for most of the group." This year Package Trends forecasts a modest 11 percent unit growth-enough to tip the total past the critical 2002 peak of $86.5 billion units to $87.2 billion. Marrs anticipates a "more global market recovery late in the year." [packagetrends.com] ChipMOS Acquires 40 Percent of ThaiLin Semi Hsinchu, Taiwan-ChipMOS Technologies (Bermuda) Ltd.'s 70-percent-owned subsidiary ChipMOS Technologies Inc., has acquired more than 40 percent ownership of ThaiLin Semiconductor Corp. ThaiLin is a semiconductor testing services company in Taiwan. ChipMOS said it paid NT$668 million (about $19.23 million) for the acquisition. ThaiLin's expertise is in memory test. [thailin.com.tw] Tahoe RF Semi Launched by Ex-IBM Engineers Auburn, Calif.-A team of engineers formerly with IBM Microelectronics' Wireless Div. have formed a new radio and analog IC circuit design company, Tahoe RF Semiconductor Inc. The company will provide front-end circuit design and simulation through to backend layout, post-layout simulation and fully packaged fabrication management. The team includes Irshad Rasheed, president and Christopher Saint, vice president of engineering. [tahoerf.com]
AMD, IBM Co-Developing Chipmaking Technologies Sunnyvale, Calif.-Advanced Micro Devices of Sunnyvale, and IBM will jointly develop technologies for producing future high-performance ICs with improved microprocessor performance and lower power needs. The processes involved are based on advanced IC structures and materials, including high-speed SOI transistors, copper interconnects and improved low-k dielectric insulation. The AMD-IBM agreement targets the use of 45nm and 65nm lithography on 300mm wafers. The development is supported by engineers from both companies working together at IBM's Semiconductor Research and Development Center in East Fishkill, N.Y. The first products based on the new 65nm technologies are expected to appear in 2005, according to the companies. [amd.com] [ibm.com] |
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