Adrienne Downey

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Adrienne Downey is director of manufacturing research at Semico Research.

Author's Latest Posts

3D Printing Revolution Ahead
By Adrienne Downey - 15 May, 2014 - Comments: 0

The 3D printing industry has been getting loads of press recently. It has captured the imagination of many, with the possibility of starting a manufacturing revolution. New applications and materials are announced on a (very) frequent basis. ColorFabb will beta test two new filament materials, one based on bronze and the other bamboo, in the coming months. NASA and Tethers Unlimited are deve... » read more

2014 CapEx: Memory Is Leading The Way
By Adrienne Downey - 12 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

The semiconductor industry is expensive. Billions of dollars are spent every year to keep the fabs running, build new fabs, and push the process technology to greater and greater heights. Billions more will be spent to make 450mm production a reality. In January 2013, Semico predicted that, based on initial indications from some companies, total CapEx would be flat this year. Based on current d... » read more

450mm Is On Its Way!
By Adrienne Downey - 15 Aug, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Adrienne Downey Intel finally has taken the big plunge into 450mm manufacturing with the announcement of the start of construction of fab D1X Module 2. The company plans to spend $2 billion on construction of the new development fab this year alone. Its twin fab, Module 1, is 450mm-compatible, but will begin production later this year as a 300mm fab running a 14nm process technology. Intel�... » read more

Fabs At Risk
By Adrienne Downey - 13 Apr, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Adrienne Downey There are hundreds of semiconductor fabs spread all over the world. The trend over the past several years has been one of consolidation into several main manufacturing centers in the Asia/Pacific region, the United States, and Europe. Unfortunately for the industry, many of these fabs are located in areas prone to earthquakes. Some locations are also at an added risk of dama... » read more

Analog In The 300mm Era
By Adrienne Downey - 31 Jul, 2012 - Comments: 0

By Adrienne Downey Semico forecasts the 2012 analog market will grow 5.1% to $44.5 billion, up from $42.3 billion in 2011. This is higher than the 0.1% analog revenue growth experienced in 2011 but lower than the 12.6% growth expected in 2013. Growth is coming from automotive electronics, the energy industry, wireless communications, and healthcare diagnostic and monitoring devices. In a re... » read more

36% of Semiconductor Fabs at Risk from “Ring of Fire”
By Adrienne Downey - 26 Jan, 2012 - Comments: 0

By Adrienne Downey It's called the "Ring of Fire". Actually more of a horseshoe shape, the "Ring of Fire" is an area of high seismic activity that extends from southeast of Australia north along the Pacific coast of Asia, crosses south of Alaska, and then continues south along the Pacific coast of all of North, Central and South America. According to Wikipedia, 90% of the world's earthquakes... » read more

A Change in Capex for 2011?
By Adrienne Downey - 22 Mar, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Adrienne Downey The disaster unfolding in Japan due to the Tohoku earthquake has raised much uncertainty in the semiconductor industry.  It would be easy for us to look at the worst possible scenario, but is this the most likely one?   Semico recently released a semiconductor capital expenditure forecast of 15% growth for this year, which is on top of the 91% increase seen in 2010.  In ... » read more

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