Santa Clara, Calif.-A disparate group of semiconductor industry competitors either chip assemblers, silicon foundries or test houses-pulled together to hawk Taiwan's silicon-related wares at a recent program to publicize the island republic's technology offerings.

Dr. Edward C. Ross, president of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, a $2.5 billion silicon foundry, said TSMC "will become the largest wafer manufacturer in the world" by next year.

Among TSMC's milestone's this year, Dr. Ross added, is a new fab "four times the size of an NFL football field."

Dr. Ross also noted that ICs for the communications market make-up 39% of TSMC's revenue, with computer chips running a close second.

"The foundry business is very, very strong, and we don't see anything at this point that would slow it down," he added. Several of Taiwan's largest IC assemblers took the floor, including OSE and Silicon Precision Industries Ltd. ASE, Taiwan's largest IC packager and #2 worldwide (after Korea's Amkor), was notably absent from the program.

Tom Majeski, OSE's vice president of sales and marketing, said more than half of the company's revenues from IC assembly are now derived from advanced packages. Many customers, he observed, are working with OSE on flip-chip packages.

"In 2001, OSE will be a $1 billion company," Majeski added, "and by 2002, OSE plans to be one of the top three" assemblers. OSE maintains the largest R&D organization of any packaging foundry in Taiwan, with more than 100 R&D engineers working on package design and development, Majeski said.

OSE is expanding, and is adding one million square feet of manufacturing area to its Taiwan-based plant. The company also operates a 500,000 square foot facility in the Philippines.

While OSE says it's heading for the number three position, SPIL says it has already secured that position and estimates current revenues at $600 million. It is also the second largest Taiwan-based assembler, according to SPIL's Willie Wang.

By the end of 2002, SPIL will boast a total of 10 million square feet of manufacturing space. This will include a second Taiwan-based plant in Tynan Industrial Park, opening fall 2002.

The company, which posted a 32% compound annual growth rate over the past year, says it assembles 25% of all chipsets and 50% of all graphics chips.

"One of our strategies," added Wang, "is to seize the moment and grow! This year we plan to spend $320 million on capital equip-ment for expansion," an amount just slightly less than SPIL's rev-enue last year.

Key equipment vendors took delight in the day's talks, as one company after another reported its plans to increase capital spend-ing on assembly and test equipment.

SPIL's Wang said the company counted 1400 wire bonders last year. "Today, we have 1800 and by the end of the year, we'll have 2100." There is no shortage of packaging foundries on the island, attendee Jim Walker, Dataquest principal analyst, reported after the talks. In a recent study of assemblers in Taiwan, Dataquest counted some 220 "excluding assemblers of sensors and passives," Walker said.

The popular Taiwan Semiconductor Day program, organized by the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA), will return to Silicon Valley next year, but will also be held elsewhere, CETRA representatives said. [cetra.org.tw]

Orders

The following equipment orders were reported recently by their suppliers: August Technology Gets Order for Wafer Inspection System: Bloomington, Minn. -August Technology Corp. (Nasdaq:AUGT) said it has received an order from "one of the world's largest IC makers" for a fully automated, 300 mm NSX Series wafer inspection tool for use with pre-and post-bump wafers. [augusttech.com] MCT Wins Order for Strip Testing Gear: St. Paul, Minn. MCT Wins Order for Strip Testing Gear: St. Paul, Minn.-Micro Component Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MCTI) announced that its Infinity Systems Division has received an order for about $800,000 for a new Isocut Isolation saw and a SmartSort singulation and sorting system from an undisclosed subcontract manufacturer. [mct.com] RVSI Receives Contract for DT-8000 Inspection Handler: Canton, Mass. -RVSI said it has received a $1 million order from a major semiconductor maker for its new DT-8000 inspection handler. The handler processes ICs in multi-channel trays or tubes. [rvsi.com] Sheldahl Announces Production Scale-up of Viathin Substrates: Northfield, Minn. -Sheldahl Inc. (Nasdaq NM: SHEL) announced that it has received produc-tion/ purchase orders from a major DSP and ASIC semiconductor company for a "significant volume" of the company's Micro Products' Viathin tape BGA sub-strates over the next year. [sheldahl.com] Universal Installs High Resolution X-Ray System: Binghamton, N.Y.- Universal Instruments has installed the new VJ-1000-DIG High Res-olution X-Ray System from V.J. Technologies Inc. in its surface mount laboratory. The unit will be employed for Universal's process development applications. [uic.com] National Semi Intros New 1-Chip Scanner

Olachea is Latest Addition to Flip-Chip Technologies

Gil Olachea

Phoenix-Gil Olachea has joined Flip Chip Technologies, the joint venture between Kulicke & Soffa Industries and Delco, as vice president for strategic business and product marketing.

Olachea, who was most recently a vice president at Abpac Inc., reports to Joel Camarda, who was recently promoted to president from general manager. With more than 22 years experience in the semiconductor industry, Olachea was earlier at Amkor Technology Inc. for several years. [kns.com]

Electroglas Inc. Receives ISO 9001 Certification

San Jose-Electroglas Inc. said it has become one of the first semiconductor equipment makers to receive ISO 9001 certification.

K&S Receives $15 Million ChipPAC Order

Willow Grove, Pa.-Kulicke & Soffa Industries has received a $15 million order for its Model 8028 ball bonders from Chip PAC Inc. The bon-ders will be shipped to ChipPAC plants in Shangai, China; Ichon, Korea and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before the end of the year. [kns.com]

SAC Meeting Scheduled for November 16-17

San Diego, Calif.-The Semiconductor Assembly Council (SAC) will hold its next bi-annual meeting at the U.S. Grant Hotel here on November 16-17.

Members are expected to certify three assembly and test subcon-tractors. Currently, there are 14 SAC-certified members. At SAC's May meeting, the organization announced certifications of Amkor Technologies, Philippines, and ASAT, France. [sacouncil.org]

Worldwide Chip Sales Reach Record High

San Jose-Worldwide chip sales reached a record high of $17.3 billion in July, increasing from $11.5 billion a yar earlier, the Semiconductor Industry Association recently reported.

Semiconductor sales were strong in all geographical regions due to growth in demand for Internet infrastructure and wireless communications, according to the SIA. The Asia Pacific and Japan markets grew 57.3 percent and 52 percent, respectively, from last year. The Americas market was up 46.1 percent from last year whie sales in Europe grew 46.5 percent. [semichips.org]

More Blue Skies Ahead for Semiconductor Sales

Scottsdale, Ariz.-A strong worldwide economy into next year will boost semiconductor sales by a compound annual growth rate of 16 percent, from 1999 to 2004, reaching $316 billion, according to a large market research firm. Cahners In-Stat predicts that PCs will continue to absorb the lion's share of worldwide semiconductors, while communications, automotive and consumer end-use segments will become more significant.

In-Stat, in a report titled Semiconductor Outlook 2000: Nothin' But Blue Skies, maintains that Asia Pacific will grow at a record rate, overtaking the Americas as the leading chip consumer by 2004. The majority of Asian demand will come from China, which In-Stat predicts will become the world's second largest chip consuming country by 2010.

The report also declares that computer end-use applications will account for 44.8 percent of all chips produced by 2004. Communications, meanwhile, is the fastest growing segment at a nine year CAGR of 13.9 percent by 2004. [instat.com]

Unitive Joins Forces with Wireless Consortium

Research Triangle Park, N.C.-Unitive Advanced Semiconductor Packaging has joined the International Wireless Packaging Consortium. [unitive.com]

IDM's Corner News from the Independent Device Manufacturers

LSI Logic Unveils New Flip-Chip Package Milpitas, Calif.-LSI Logic has unveiled an organic laminate flip-chip package directed at the market for high bandwidth communications uses. Known as the FPBGA-4L, the package complements the company's FPBGA-HP (high-performance flip-chip introduced in 1998). The FPBGA-4L utilizes a matrix of solder bumps on the active surface of the chip (see cutaway), which connects to the four-layer substrate. The backside of the chip is directly connected to a copper heat spreader, providing an excellent source for thermal dissipation, according to the company. To support the requirements of future communications chip designs, the flip-chip package is becoming increasingly important, the company observes. "As we continuously migrate to highly integrated chip designs using multiple voltages, high-speed I/Os, high-speed memory interfaces and greater power dissipation, the package becomes an integral part of the total solution," according to Stan Mihelcic, manager of technoloyg product marketing at LSI Logic. The package is immediately available in high vol-umes to LSI Logic customers in body sizes from 23 mm- 40 mm with pincounts from 365 through 1157. [lsilogic.com] National Semi Intros New 1-Chip Scanner Santa Clara, Calif.-National Semiconductor has introduced its second-generation scanner-on-a-chip for color imaging. Designated the LM9832, the devices scans images in 42-bit resolution. The device is also fully USB 1.1 compatible for plug-and-play operation in USB-equipped computers. [national.com]

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