The top four pure-play foundries (TSMC, UMC SMIC & Chartered) have now all provided their latest quarterly results with one very important underlying trend! 

Inch by inch, EUVL is moving forward. The big problem is that it has not moved forward fast enough to be inserted confidently into any given future technology node. Although news from SEMATECH today touts ‘production-enabling breakthroughs’ being presented at the 2007 International EUVL Symposium, the press release lacks any mention of the timing for EUVL entering production! 

Last week’s shock news from TSMC that it is planning to significantly reduce capital spending in 2008 and indications that this would be potentially become the norm for several years ahead shouldn’t be underestimated. 

News from last week’s AMD conference call that told us the company would start production of 45nm microprocessors in the first half of 2008 shouldn’t be looked at from the point of view of ‘volume production.’ The message that should be taken from the news is that at some time in the first six months of next year, AMD may well have a small amount of devices entering the supply-chain. 

I am in not by any means a financial wizard, but a big red flag just got hoisted over the headquarters at Hynix with the news that its total debt burden has increased by 240 billion won to 4.4 trillion won at the end of the third quarter. Hynix now has a debt-to-equity ratio of 46 percent! 

Some interesting though general bites of information came out of ASML’s quarterly conference call today that noted the adoption cycle by the various chip manufacturers for immersion lithography. 

The numbers coming out of ASML’s third quarter financial results regarding immersion lithography tool bookings, shipments and overall adoption cycles are quite staggering! 

Spansion's acquisition of Saifun has been spun as some kind of perfect partnership that will produce $ profits where Saifun failed on its own as an IP standalone entity. 

Last week Micron Technology produced 4Q07 financial results and provided some interesting snippets on its manufacturing plans in 2008. 

There is a murky grey mist covering most of the UK at the moment and visibility is rather poor. The revised Gartner CapEx spending forecast may be accurate from the point of view of what has happened this year, but there remains a considerable lack of clear visibility over the revised projections for 2008.

According to Korean newspaper ET News, Hynix Semiconductor is planning to start placing equipment orders this month for its M11 fab currently under construction.