Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers How bad is the slowdown in the IC industry? The memory market is terrible, while other markets are slowing. One company—Renesas--is feeling the brunt. Citing the IC slowdown, Renesas will temporarily halt production at 13 of the company's 14 production facilities, according to a report from Nikkei. Renesas confirmed the move. “Renesas is considering implementing measures to ... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers IC Insights has released the process technology roadmaps for chipmakers and foundries. GlobalFoundries, Intel, Samsung, SMIC, TSMC and UMC are highlighted. GlobalFoundries has announced that the company’s 8SW RF SOI technology has delivered more than a $1 billion of client design win revenue since its launch in 2017. RF SOI is designed for RF switches and other devices in 4G/... » read more

Using Sensor Data To Improve Yield And Uptime


Semiconductor equipment vendors are starting to add more sensors into their tools in an effort to improve fab uptime and wafer yield, and to reduce cost of ownership and chip failures. Massive amounts of data gleaned from those tools is expected to provide far more detail than in the past about multiple types and sources of variation, including when and where that variation occurred and how,... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers and OEMs South Korean chipmaker MagnaChip reported its results. It has also undertaken a strategic evaluation of the company's foundry business and Fab 4, the larger of the company's two 200mm fabs. “The strategic evaluation is expected to include a range of possible options, including, but not limited to, joint ventures, strategic partnerships as well as M&A possibilities. The co... » read more

Anticipating And Addressing 5G Testing Challenges


It’s no surprise that each new generation of ICs raises new sets of challenges in device testing. Changes in pin counts, data-transfer rates and interface protocols present different requirements. With the coming fifth generation (5G) of semiconductor technology, producers of automatic test equipment (ATE) must develop new test solutions with advanced capabilities on several fronts. Perhap... » read more

Reliability Becomes The Top Concern In Automotive


Reliability is emerging as the top priority across the hottest growth markets for semiconductors, including automotive, industrial and cloud-based computing. But instead of replacing chips every two to four years, some of those devices are expected to survive for up to 20 years, even with higher usage in sometimes extreme environmental conditions. This shift in priorities has broad ramificat... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers and OEMs Taiwan specialty foundry vendor Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) will acquire GlobalFoundries’ Fab 3E facility in Singapore for $236 million. Fab 3E manages a monthly capacity of approximately 35,000 200mm wafers. The transaction includes buildings, facilities, and equipment, as well as IP associated with GF’s MEMS business. VIS currently has three 200mm fa... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers Shares of Intel fell amid lackluster results for the company, according to a report from CNBC. But Intel is also boosting its capital spending to $15.5 billion, according to the report. Here’s more on Intel from PC World. Meanwhile, Intel is expanding its research fab in Oregon, dubbed D1X, according to a report from The Oregonian. The company is in the process of building an ... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Fab tools and materials Applied Materials is expected to remain the world’s largest semiconductor equipment supplier in terms of projected sales for 2018, according to a preliminary forecast of the rankings from VLSI Research. Applied will have $14 billion in sales in 2018, according to the firm. Applied is the leader in terms of overall projected sales in 2018, followed in order by ASM... » read more

The Next Big Generation


As members of the global semiconductor business, we are continually looking to identify the next big thing (NBT) that will drive market growth. Typically, we try to predict which new product – from smart vehicles to wearable electronics – will become the next mass-market item that will boost our industry into a successively higher orbit. Thanks to the innovators and visionaries among us, th... » read more

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