Online information source for semiconductor professionals

One of the white elephants of modern semiconductor equipment design would have to be ASM’s Levitor RTP technology. After years of development and no customers, (one I can recall, though that could have been an eval-only deal), ASM pulled the plug on the development of the tool last year as it struggled to restructure its front-end fab equipment operations. ASM had hoped to off-load the unique but unwanted technology but that had proved too difficult, especially since the collapse in capital equipment sales and lack of access to capital. Read more >>

In a rather excited email, Bill McClean at IC Insights has called a bottom to the current semiconductor cycle and without actually using the word, hailed the next up-cycle for an industry desperate for good rather than bad news. Read more >>

Turning all the doom and gloom forecasting on its head and things don’t look that bad, according to IC Insights. In particular, take a look at recovering sales at the largest foundry, TSMC and it's up from hereon in for the rest of year and possibly beyond. Read more >>

Both Hynix and Micron are seeking to raise capital. Hynix got the green light from its former creditor banks to raise approximately US$519 million, while Micron is hoping to gain US$450 million by offering stock and convertible senior notes. Both companies have burnt through billions in the last few years while spending on new capacity and filling the hole in accounts as losses continued unabated. Read more >>

Not surprisingly Steve Appleton, Micron’s Chairman and CEO had a few words to say during its timely earnings conference call last night over the decision by the Taiwanese Government to partner with Elpida on process technology IP, the yet to be established Taiwan Memory Co DRAM enterprise. Read more >>

Words uttered by someone in the Taiwan Government to someone asking a question on the ‘sidelines’ of some event not related to the subject at all has sparked a flurry of stories suggesting that Elpida has been selected to partner with the beleaguered DRAM industry on the island. Read more >>

Innovation, node migrations and yield improvement strategies once meant that KLA-Tencor could ride out the worst of an economic or semiconductor specific downturn better than most equipment suppliers, which were more dependent on production expansions to make sales. Read more >>

Desperate times mean desperate remarks from DRAM producers, especially those in Taiwan such as Powerchip Semiconductor (PSC). Chairman Frank Huang has been quoted as saying that there is the likelihood of a DRAM shortage in the 3Q09, due to the level of production cuts announced by many manufacturers. Read more >>

When the global stock markets started to dive from September last year, there were approximately eight semiconductor-related companies listed on NASDAQ that I had been tracking that were either just above or below the US$1.0 threshold for listing on the tech exchange. As the share sell-off continued, that number didn’t expand as rapidly as one might have thought. Read more >>

Bill McClean over at IC Insights is making hints that a recovery could be in the making for the beleaguered semiconductor industry, as the trend in falling IC ASPs seems to be on the cusp of changing course. Read more >>