Week In Review: Manufacturing And Design


Wearable computing is one of the hottest topics being discussed today. Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner, said digital health and fitness will be among the hottest segments in the arena. Don't look now, but ASML Holding has delayed its 450mm tool programs. "As for 450, ASML has paused the development of 450mm lithography systems, both EUV and 193, until customer demand and the ti... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing & Design


Tensions between the U.S. and China are growing. In a research report, Gus Richard, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, said: “The technology sector is being impacted by U.S./Chinese tensions over cybersecurity. The combination of Huawei being blocked from doing business in the United States and the Snowden affair are impacting U.S. tech companies' prospects in China. China’s state-run media ident... » read more

DSA, Multi-beam Make Steady Progress


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss current and future lithography challenges with Laurent Pain, lithography lab manager at CEA-Leti. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: CEA-Leti has two major programs in lithography. One is in directed self-assembly (DSA) and the other is in multi-beam e-beam. Let’s start with multi-beam. What is Leti doing in multi-beam and what... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing & Design


GT Advanced Technologies has entered into a multi-year supply agreement with Apple for sapphire materials. GT will own and operate its furnaces and related equipment to produce the sapphire materials at an Apple-owned facility in Arizona. GT expects to employ more than 700 people in the facility. Apple will provide GT with a prepayment of about $578 million. “We believe Apple likely has signi... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing & Design


Don’t look now, but Intel is expanding its foundry business. Previously, Intel garnered a small collection of foundry customers. But Intel would not entertain foundry customers that had competitive products based on ARM chips. Apparently, Intel is having a change of heart. “I think they’ve changed their position,” said Nathan Brookwood, a research fellow at Insight 64. “They will do A... » read more

Applied-TEL Watch


By Mark LaPedus So far this year, the biggest story in the fab tool industry is fairly obvious—Applied Materials recently signed a definitive agreement to acquire rival Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) for about $9.3 billion. The blockbuster announcement will likely be the top story of 2013. Of course, the integration of Applied and TEL will be a challenge. In any case, the Applied-TEL deal is i... » read more

Inside Japan: The Applied Materials-Tokyo Electron Merger


The merger of Tokyo Electron and Applied Materials has turned heads around the globe, but behind the scenes in Japan there was a recognition that this deal had to be done now or it would never be possible. Releases from both companies describe it as a merger of equals, and the Japanese press has reported it that way. But international media outside of Japan take the view that Tokyo Electron ... » read more

The Week In Review: Oct. 11


By Mark LaPedus & Ed Sperling Demand is running high for DRAMs, thanks to last month’s fab fire at Hynix’ China plant. “The impact from Hynix' fab fire seems to be far more extensive than we had originally thought. We now think the factory is most likely up at the earliest by May/June 2014, which certainly provides robust pricing support for DRAM. Hynix is in the process of convertin... » read more

The Week In Review: Oct. 4


By Mark LaPedus & Ed Sperling eSilicon introduced an automated multi-project wafer quote system, which allows companies to sort through a number of options and get pricing. The quotes are tied into TSMC's 20nm to 350nm processes, and GlobalFoundries’ 20nm to 180nm processes. The approach eliminates the need for companies to buy a full wafer if their volume requirements don’t warrant it... » read more

The Week In Review: Sept. 30


In a deal that could shake-up the fab tool landscape, Applied Materials has announced a definitive agreement to acquire rival Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) in a stock deal valued at around $9.3 billion. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Soitec, CEA-Leti and the Helmholtz Center Berlin jointly announced having achieved a new world record for the conversion of sunlight into e... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →