ESEC Group's CEO Bagdasarjanz Steps Down 'by Mutual Agreement' Cham, Switzerland-Dr. Felix Bagdasarjanz, CEO of the ESEC Group, has left the Switzerland-based maker of assembly equipment "by mutual agreement." Dr. Jürgen Knorr, a member of ESEC's board of directors, has assumed the title and duties of CEO on an interim basis. In a news release issued by ESEC, the company reported that Dr. Bagdasarjanz "is stepping down as CEO of ESEC, effective March 25. The reason for this move is the differing views between the board and Dr. Bagdasarjanz on the management and operative implementation of the company's business strategy." Succeeded Founder Karl Nicklaus The then-54-year-old Bagdasarjanz joined ESEC on April 1, 1999, and succeeded founder Karl Nicklaus on June 1, 1999. Prior to serving as ESEC's CEO, Dr. Bagdasarjanz served as vice president of the Automation and Technology Segments of ABB Switzerland. Dr. Knorr told Chip Scale Review that-aside from the economy-ESEC is facing four challenges in 2002. "These are restructuring the sales and distribution network, innovating (turning ideas into revenue), making process competency a competitive hallmark and stabilizing the earnings and cost situation." Prior to joining the ESEC board, Dr. Knorr held key managements posts at Siemens AG. In the same news release, ESEC announced that its board, at its annual general shareholders' meeting in April, will propose that payment of a stock dividend be waived. Unaxis is now the majority shareholder of the ESEC Group. The company noted that it closed out the year for its two most important business units, die bonders and wire bonders, with losses. [esec.com]
Carsem Plans Shanghai Assembly & Test Facility By Ron Iscoff, Editor Packaging foundry Carsem, headquartered in Ipoh, Malaysia, has announced plans to locate an assembly and test plant in the Shanghai, China, area. The company will construct a 16,0002 meter (172,0002 ft) single-story building on 60,0002 meters (645 ft2) of land in the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP). High-tech companies currently located in SIP include AMD, Nokia, Siemens and Solectron. The Shanghai region has attracted competitors Amkor, Alphatec, ChipPAC and Pantronix. The first phase of Carsem's expansion to China will be the introduction of the company's micro and small outline package family, as well as mixed-signal and RF testing. The company says it will begin customer qualifications during Q4, with full production ramping by Q1 2003. The second phase will begin in January 2003, with the addition of the Micro Leadframe Package family. During Q1, Carsem will also expand wafer probe and final test services. Local Staffing Paul Smith, Carsem's marketing director, told CSR that initial employment will be about 150. Staffing will be accomplished locally with employees sent to Carsem in Malaysia for training. A general manager for the plant has not been named. Initially, assembly equipment will be brought from the company's Malaysian facilities; however, headcount won't be significantly reduced at headquarters. "Just a select few will transfer from Malaysia to China," according to Smith. "Otherwise, there will be no reduction in headcount for Malaysia," he added. Asked about wages in China, Smith reported, "I don't have detailed info on that; however, I was told that the relative costs of labor were not a significant factor in making our decision to expand into China. As an added comment, some people seem to think that China equals cheap labor and cheap prices. That simply is not true in our industry today." Some 90 percent of the new facility will be devoted to assembly, the rest to test. David Comley, Carsem's group managing director, said the decision to expand into China will enable Carsem to help its customers address the country's rapidly developing markets. "It is obvious that there are tremendous growth opportunities for both Carsem and our customers, and this will position us with the ability to service those needs." The SIP area contains 25 local universities, 70 independent research firms and over 200,000 people with extensive technical skills. [carsem.com] Taiwan Eases Investment Policy for Mainland China Taipei-Taiwan's government recently liberalized its policy relating to investment in wafer fabrication plants on the Chinese mainland. In its policy statement, the government said it will approve the investment of no more than three 8-inch wafer plants by the year 2005. [gio.gov.tw/taiwan]
IBM, Sony, Toshiba Join Forces to Develop Silicon-on-Insulator East Fishkill, N.Y.-IBM, Sony Corp., Sony Computer Entertainment and Toshiba Corp. have signed a multiyear contract to develop advanced semiconductor technologies based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and other IBM materials advances. An announcement from the partners says the alliance will lead to the development of high-performance, low-power chips needed for a wide range of future electronic products. The alliance will spend several hundred million dollars over four years to develop new process technologies for making chips with features as small as 50 nanometers on 300 mm wafers. The companies plan to employ the technology to create system-on-a-chip designs, which will integrate the processor, memory and communications functions. The announcement adds, "The new processes are expected to be the world's most sophisticated, incorporating advanced chip-making materials pioneered by IBM such as copper wiring, SOI transistors and low-k insulation. The use of new designs and materials, the partners reported, will be guided by the application requirements of Sony, one of the world's largest consumers of semiconductors. According to IBM, the new alliance framework will enhance the existing "collaborative structure between IBM and Sony by adding the strength of Toshiba's versatile manufacturing expertise, as the second largest in the semiconductor industry." [ibm.chips.com]
Steve Anderson Exits Silicon Bandwidth Fremont, Calif.-Steve Anderson has exited the presidency of Silicon Bandwidth, a provider of interconnect platforms. Anderson, who joined the company less than two years ago from Amkor Technology, where he was vice president of corporate and product marketing, has been replaced on a temporary basis by Sunil Kaul, chief operating officer. [siliconbandwidth.com] Fujitsu Microelectronics America Debuts Industry's Highest-Density MCP San Jose-Fujitsu Microelectronics America (FMA) has introduced what it claims to be the industry's highest density multi-chip package, an MCP that can support as many as eight chips. The package is designed for mobile phones, digital audio/video equipment and IC cards. The new MCP can meet the demands for smaller, thinner, more densely integrated and higher-capacity devices, according to Dennis Stephenson, director of FMA's Advanced Packaging Services. [fma.fujitsu.com] |
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