Fabless Group Predicts Wafer Demand Will Rebound During Fourth Quarter Dallas-The Fabless Semiconductor Association (FSA) recently predicted that wafer demand will rebound in Q4, suggesting a recovery for fabless companies in the first quarter of next year. The trade group based its outlook on the results of its annual "Wafer and Packaging Demand" survey of member companies, most of whom subcontract their wafer fabrication, packaging and testing. The FSA's 2001 survey forecasts that wafer demand for fabless companies will grow moderately, at 12 percent, in the first half of this year, which includes a wafer demand decrease in Q1. "In February, when most companies completed the survey, optimism remained that a third quarter recovery could still take place," the FSA said. In the group's 2000 survey, only three packages accounted for 95 percent of packaging requirements for fabless companies. These were PDIPs, various outline packages (xSOP) and QFPs. According to the survey, demand for PDIPs and QFPs will increase by 27 and 48 percent, respectively, by next year. [fsa.org] Philips Plans $1 Billion China Plant Eindhoven, The Netherlands-Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, says it will build a new IC assembly and test plant at the Suzhou Industrial Park in eastern China at a cost of $1 billion. Completion of the facility, which will cover more than 100,000 square meters and boast some 3,500 workers, is expected by 2006. The plant will be used to assemble and test BGAs and CSPs. Production will begin as early as the second quarter next year, according to Philips. [semiconductors.Philips.com] Amkor Extends Its Business Empire to Taiwan by Acquiring Sampo Semiconductor and TSTC Amkor Technology Inc., the global IC assembly giant, has extended its Asian presence with the purchase of two assembly plants in Taiwan. Terms were not disclosed. In separate transactions, Amkor will acquire Sampo Semiconductor Corp., Lung-Tang, and Taiwan Semiconductor Technology Corp. (TSTC), Linkou. Both plants are within an hour's drive of Taipei. TSTC, according to Amkor, has about 450 workers and Sampo's headcount is around 850.
Amkor will pay for the facilities mainly in stock, the company says. Sampo and TSTC have combined revenues of about $100 million. These facilities will bring to 14 the number of offshore manufacturing sites owned by Amkor (see table). Assembly and test in Taiwan ties-in directly with Amkor's strategy, according to Eric Larson, Amkor's executive vice president-corporate development. Amkor Extends Presence ... "We have wanted to have an expanded presence in Taiwan for a long time," Larson said in a phone interview from his Boise, Idaho, office recently. He noted that Amkor's original 25% ownership of TSTC provided a vehicle to learn about the Taiwanese market, "and to learn about Acer and TSMC, two of Taiwan's leading companies" which were formerly investors in TSTC." Amkor's "master plan" for factory acquisition has several key points, Larson said.
"We believe that many of our customers want to divest themselves of their assembly and test facilities. We continue to be involved in conversations with those customers" which may lead to further acquisitions in Taiwan and elsewhere. The key, he added, is developing the right business model-one that meets both the customer's and Amkor's needs. On the customer side, Larson, added, Amkor is looking for factories that can supply its product line offerings. "These are pretty broad, so that leaves the area generally wide open. Secondly, the customer expects us to enter into a long-term supply relationship." Local Management Finally, Amkor wants to acquire the "right" local management team to run the factory and integrate it into Amkor's business. Both Taiwan-based acquisitions are close to the cluster of well-known wafer foundries in Taipei, including TSMC (now the largest wafer foundry in the world) and UMC. Larson said Amkor has been interested in "getting our fair share" of the local assembly and test business for a long time. "Some of our existing customers have been shipping wafers for assembly and test to our plants in South Korea and the Philippines. They've let us know, however, that they are interested in having their product made in Taiwan," he said. "We do not expect these facilities to be our last investment in Taiwan," he added. "We plan to grow our presence there appropriate to our success in that market-and we expect to be pretty successful."
New Venture for Indium Corp. Utica, N.Y.-The Indium Corp. of America has acquired the germanium processing technology and equipment of the Cabot Corp.'s Performance Materials Division, Revere, Pa. The new venture will operate as the Germanium Corporation of America. [indium.com]
Kulicke & Soffa Opens $4 Million Kaohsiung, Taiwan-Based Bonding Wire Plant Kaohsiung, Taiwan-Kulicke & Soffa, Willow Grove, Pa., recently held grand opening ceremonies at its 35,000 square-foot bonding wire facility. The plant represents an investment of more than $4 million in bricks and mortar and equipment, according to K&S. As production ramps later this year, K&S said it expects the headcount to increase to 60. The plant will also serve as the company's local spare parts depot and house an additional 65 sales and support personnel. The facility will include a 9,000 square-foot, Class 1000 cleanroom containing modern wire drawing, spooling and annealing equipment, as well as a fully equipped application development lab. [kns.com] ASME Sets MEMS Seminar Universal City, Calif.-The American Society of Mechanical Engineers will hold a two-day seminar on micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) on May 31 and June 1 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel. A special pre-conference workshop is planned for May 30. According to Cahners In-Stat Group, MEMS-based photonic switches will be the first MEMS device to surpass the $1 billion sales mark by 2004. For registration info, contact 1-800-THE ASME or asme.org/pro. IMAPS Offers Free Online Guide to Products, Services Washington-The IMAPS Industry Guide, a comprehensive listing of products and services for more than 600 companies, is now available electronically, free, at imaps.org/indguide. The Guide includes a searchable database to both IMAPS member and non-member companies. IMAPS says that by next year, the guide will grow to over 1,200 companies. Contact Ann Bell for more information. [abell@imaps.org]
Researchers Tie Fundamental Physical Limit of Gigascale Integration to Temperature San Francisco-Researchers at a seminar on nanotechnology, during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, tied the fundamental physical limit governing semiconductor integration to a single variable: absolute temperature. Dr. James D. Meindl of the Microelectronics Research Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, said that based on this fundamental limit, however, engineers can derive a hierarchy of limits that are much less absolute because they depend on assumptions about the operation of devices, circuits and systems. The talk was based on a report by Dr. Meindl and collaborator Jeffrey A. Davis reported in the October 2000 issue of the IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits. Send in Your Salary Survey Today! If you've received the Chip Scale Review salary survey of IC packaging engineers and managers, please return it right away! Your anonymous input will help our editors complete a forthcoming article on how you and your colleagues are compensated by the industry.
Everyone who includes their name, address and e-mail on a separate sheet with the survey will be entered into a random drawing for some nifty prizes. If you did not receive a survey in the mail, you can still contribute by visiting our Website at www.ChipScaleReview.com. Four lucky winners will each receive McGraw-Hill's recently published Electronic Packaging and Interconnection Handbook, edited by Charles A. Harper, and valued at $100. Turcich Appointed Product Manager Londonderry, N.H.-Greg Turcich has been named product manager, high density interconnect materials, for Polyclad Technologies. Before joining Cookson's Polyclad, Turcich was director of sales and marketing for CHEMFAB Corp., Merrimack, N.H. He is a graduate of Drexel University, Philadelphia, with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. [polyclad.com]
Loranger Corp. Contact Incorrect in April Issue Due to a production error, the contact person for Loranger International Corp. was listed incorrectly. For information about Loranger sockets, contact Ariane Loranger, sales manager, at 814.723.2250, fax 814.723.5391 or e-mail sales@loranger.com. [loranger.com]
STMicro Opens New Moroccan Plant Bouskoura, Morocco-STMicroelectronics has opened a new IC assembly and test plant near Casablanca, close to its original Bouskoura facility. The new plant is expected to employ 2,500 people when full capacity is reached, and to produce as many as 25 million ICs/day. In its ramp-up phase, the plant employs 733 people and can package 2.3 million ICs/day. ST's original Bouskoura plant was built in 1979, although ST built a small plant in Ain Sebaa in 1952. The new plant includes 32,000 square meters of cleanroom area and 4,000 square meters of warehouse facilities. [st.com]
K&S Licenses Copper Ball Bonding to ASE Kulicke & Soffa, Willow Grove, Pa. [kns.com], has licensed the process and specialized equipment for the former's proprietary OP2 oxidation prevention technology, used in the manufacture of copper ICs, to ASE. The Taiwanese company will employ the technology to produce advanced copper wafer BGA packages at its Kaohsiung plant. Michael Sheaffer, K&S director says, "Copper is extremely difficult to wire bond because of the way it oxidizes. Until now, the only way to achieve reliable results was to add aluminum or other metal layers over the bond pads, increasing wafer fab costs by as much as $100/wafer." The K&S process adds a tool to the process in the assembly plant just prior to wafer dicing. This tool removes native oxides from the copper wafer and protects it from further oxide growth during the dicing, die attach, curing and wire bonding steps. [aseglobal.com] Stanford's Plummer Receives Award San Jose, Calif.-The Semiconductor Industry Association has given Dr. James Plummer the Semiconductor Research Corp's. University Research Award "for his career contributions that have advanced the semiconductor industry." Dr. Plummer has been dean of Stanford University's School of Engineering since 1999 and has taught at Stanford for 33 years. [semichips.org] Saki Systems Opens California Office Santa Clara, Calif.-Saki Corp., a supplier of AOI equipment, has established a subsidiary company, Saki Technology Corp. of America, to sell its equipment in the U.S. Makoto "Kame" Kameda will manage the U.S. subsidiary at 2318-C Walsh Ave., Santa Clara, CA 95051. The company also announced that it has chosen Tech-ser, Irvine, Calif., as its first reps. [home.ksp.or.jp/saki] Tyco Electronics Acquires MultiTroniks Inc. Warren, N.J.-Tyco Electronics, a division of Tyco International Ltd., Pembroke, Bermuda, has acquired MultiTroniks, a supplier of pick-and-place SMT equipment. [multitroniks.com] |
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