Much Ado About Weakening Currency, China, And IoT


At the 10th annual SEMI/Gartner Market Symposium, keynoted by ARM’s Ian Ferguson, market analysts gathered to present their views on the current state of the industry. Several key themes emerged including weakening currency impact on the industry’s forecasts, China’s $20 billion Industry Fund, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Industry overview and trends were presented by Bob Johnson,... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


SEMI released its book-to-bill report for the North American semiconductor industry. The ratio was 1.02 for the month of July, up from 0.98 in June and 0.99 in May. The ratio is a three-month moving average of bookings and billings, and for July the average hit $1.559 billion. That's the highest so far this year, and it's up 12.5% year over year. Brooks Automation acquired Contact Co.,... » read more

Challenges And Opportunities for China in the Semiconductor Industry


By Allen Lu China’s new industry investment and government promotion policies represent major opportunities for China and global semiconductor companies. The global industry is closely watching the details of the policy and its implementation ─ both because of the resources China’s government has dedicated and the potential impact to the global semiconductor manufacturing supply chain. I... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Sunit Rikhi, vice president of the Technology and Manufacturing Group at Intel and general manager of Intel’s Custom Foundry unit, has retired. “I left Intel on a sabbatical in late March and ended my career with Intel on June 1,” Rikhi said in an e-mail. Now, Rikhi has started a new company. The company, called Reach for Infinity LLC, “is a management development company devoted to... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Summit Research reports on the proposed buyout of Micron by China's Tsinghua Unigroup. New York Senator Chuck Schumer wrote a letter urging the United States to block any potential sale of the Boise memory-chip maker to the group. Summit states the Tsinghua investment is more likely to be a stake in Micron that specifically forbids certain IP to be made available in order to protect national se... » read more

Pathfinding Beyond 10nm


After higher aspect-ratio finFETs and higher mobility SiGe and III-V materials, the industry will move to lateral nanowires and then to vertical nanowire transistors, and to new tunnel junction FETs or spin wave architectures ─ or to various combinations of these technologies for different applications, reported An Steegan, Imec senior vice president of process technology, during SEMICON West... » read more

Multiple Lithography Options Still Remain in Play


The throughput and uptime of EUV, and the overlay accuracy of 193nm immersion lithography, continue to steadily improve, though neither is yet ready for 10nm production, according to speakers at SEMICON West. Mike Lercel, ASML director, Product Marketing, reported several EUV tool sites achieved 70 percent uptime for more than a week, and one customer site had done so for more than four ... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


According to Strategy Analytics, global mobile phone shipments grew a lackluster 2% annually to reach 435 million units in the second quarter of 2015. China’s Huawei was the star performer, as it captured a 7% share and overtook Microsoft to become the world’s third largest mobile phone vendor for the first time ever. Samsung remains in first place, while Apple is second. Remember when t... » read more

Equipment Market Drifts Downward


Most analysts covering the equipment market have dropped their forecasts, some by as much as half, since the start of the year. While there are a number of variables that could ultimately change those numbers—the Greek debt crisis, currency fluctuations, server sales, the delivery of a commercially viable EUV—the bottom line is that the market is looking more skittish. Dan Tracy, SEMI's ... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Semicon West is always a busy week. Typically, there are a plethora of events going on during the week. It’s also a good week to get a pulse on the industry. The good news: Innovation is alive and well. Bad news: Intel cut its CapEx. And tool makers are in the midst of a lull right now, with a cloudy outlook projected for 2016. Some even see a dreaded downturn next year. Pacific Crest Secu... » read more

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