03 December 2008

According to TSMC, approximately 410 suppliers to the company attended its seventh annual Supply Chain Management Forum, which had the theme of ‘Striving for Supply Chain Excellence’, and focused on new technology development, innovative cost reduction, and supply chain efficiency. As part of the forum, TSMC announced its 2008 supplier awards which saw equipment honors for EBARA Corporation (CMP equipment), Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates (Ion Implanters), Hitachi Kokusai Electric (Thermal Furnaces) and Novellus Systems (CVD tools). Materials supply honors went to Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK) for photoresists and Cabot Microelectronics for CMP pads and slurries.
Read more >>
02 December 2008

SEMI has painted an uncharacteristically gloomy picture of semiconductor equipment sales in 2008 and 2009 that slightly exceeds projections from independent market research firms such as Gartner Dataquest and
VLSI Research. SEMI has projected sales to reach $30.91 billion in 2008, a decline of almost 28%, compared to 2007. The trade association is also projecting a further decline in equipment sales of 21% for 2009.
Read more >>
01 December 2008

The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) has released its forecasts for 2008 and 2009. The global semiconductor market is expected to grow 2.5% on an annualized basis to $261.9 billion in 2008, which have been revised downwards 0.7 percentage points compared to the forecast that WSTS had issued in May, 2008. The fall is due to weaker than expected sales in the fourth quarter, WSTS said.
Read more >>