Chip Equipment Billings Soar In 2020


The global economy has started down a gradual path to recovery from COVID-19 in recent months as the world continues to combat the virus. Yet one sector – semiconductors – has shown impressive growth powered by a transformation hastened by the pandemic across industries ranging from education and work-from-home to healthcare. Semiconductor sales increased 12% in September to mark a secon... » read more

Smart Manufacturing In Fabs


Not long after STMicroelectronics opened its first semiconductor plant in Singapore more than 50 years ago, a facility chiefly focused on chip assembly and packaging, the company realized that it had constructed the site in an area with a blossoming chip ecosystem with a bright future. Before long, the company became the first to start a wafer fab facility in the so-called Little Red Dot. To... » read more

Smart Backend Assembly Factory For Industry 4.0


I recently spoke with Chan Pin CHONG, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Products and Solutions at Kulicke & Soffa, about how smart manufacturing is driving new production efficiencies in the semiconductor industry. During our conversation, he also provided practical steps for factory operators to follow in evaluating their smart manufacturing needs in order to ensure successfu... » read more

A Mid-Year End Market Recovery For Semiconductors


Although the semiconductor chip and capital equipment markets performed well in the first half of 2020, many of the electronic equipment end markets struggled globally. World electronic equipment sales declined almost 10% in 2Q’20 vs. 2Q’19 (chart 1). Better mid-year end market demand However, world business conditions are improving. The global purchasing managers index, a measure of broa... » read more

Semiconductors Up Globally, Warnings Ahead


Things are picking up. Purchasing managers indices indicated July manufacturing increases in most key countries with only South Korea and Japan having PMIs still in contraction territory (chart 1). The Global PMI recovered sharply (chart 2), reaching 50.3 in July. Service sector still fighting pandemic The manufacturing sector is recovering but the service sector is still struggling, hit h... » read more

The Future Of Mobility: Autonomous, Connected, Electric, Shared


By Bettina Weiss and Sven Beiker As the amount of electronics in automobiles continues to increase, it is becoming more common to hear a vehicle referred to as a “computer on wheels.” To that end, innovation occurs at the intersection of automotive and microelectronics so that leveraging synergies and contemplating joint initiatives becomes crucial in shaping the future of both fields. I... » read more

Best Practices In Business Continuity Planning


Cameron Burks, head of Global Security, Enterprise Business Resiliency and Health, Environment & Safety with Adobe Systems, and a member of the White House Task Force for COVID-19 response, briefed members of SEMI’s IT Leadership (ITL) and Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) groups on April 20, 2020, on enterprise resiliency principals specific to the current COVID-19 crisis. Burk... » read more

Gradual Rebound Or Slight Dip


Uncertainty has gripped the silicon wafer market as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to upend growth projections for 2020. Declines in both shipments and revenue plagued the silicon wafer market in 2019, a downturn that had given way to optimism for 2020 with rising expectations for normalizing inventory levels, memory market improvements, data center market growth and the 5G market takeoff. ... » read more

Fab Equipment Poised For A Record 2021


Global fab equipment spending promises to crawl out of a gloomy 2019 and see a modest recovery this year before a sharp uptick drives record investments in 2021 in a vivid display of the decades-old cyclicality playing out in the semiconductor industry. Typically – and reliably – fab investments fall into negative territory after two years of growth, though a few periods have bucked that... » read more

Impact Of Coronavirus Could Threaten Global Electronics Growth


Data through December showed a steady recovery in the global electronic supply chain with SEMI equipment leading the way in 3/12 growth (Chart 1). The global purchasing managers index moved into expansion territory (PMI>50) in January indicating accelerating growth in world manufacturing activity (Chart 2). But in late January the Coronavirus (COVID-19) began to make its negative impact f... » read more

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