Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


Applied Materials sued its Chinese-owned rival, Mattson, over an alleged 14-month effort to steal valuable trade secrets, reports Bloomberg. In court filing, Applied Materials claimed that Mattson engaged in a spree of employee-poaching and covertly transferring semiconductor equipment designs. Global semiconductor materials revenue grew 8.9% to $72.7 billion in 2022, surpassing the previous... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Fab tools and materials After a series of delays due to regulatory issues, Lam Research and KLA-Tencor have agreed to terminate their proposed merger agreement. Amid a possible proxy battle, Kulicke & Soffa Industries has named Fusen Chen as president and chief executive, effective Oct. 31. He was also elected to the board of K&S. Jonathan Chou, chief financial officer and interim CEO, w... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Chipmakers In a blog, GlobalFoundries discussed the global push towards 5G or fifth-generation wireless networks. Samsung Electronics Australia has announced the creation of brainBAND, a wearable technology designed to facilitate research into concussions in sports. In the prototype, a headband houses sensors at the back of the head that measure the force of an impact. This information wou... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


For years, China has been trying to get a domestic IC equipment industry off the ground, but it has experienced modest success in the arena. Now, China may take a new strategy—acquire fab tool makers. In what could be a sign of things to come, China’s Beijing E-Town Dragon Semiconductor Industry Investment Center has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire U.S.-based fab tool vendor ... » read more

Fab Tool M&A Slowdown?


The semiconductor industry is in the midst of a dizzying array of mergers and acquisitions. At the current pace, some 32% of all U.S. publicly traded semiconductor companies are projected to get acquired in 2015, according to FBR. But in reality, the M&A activity will slow and edge towards a 15% consolidation rate for the year, according to the firm. Still, the IC industry is bracing for... » read more