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Monthly sales figures from TSMC for December, 2011 indicated revenue fell 13.2% from the prior month to NT$30.57 billion. Full-year sales for 2011 totalled NT$418.25 billion, an increase of 2.8% compared to 2010.

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The strong spurt in spending at semiconductor foundries so early in the year means that Deutsche Bank has revised its CapEx spending forecast for the industry. Instead of an expected CapEx decline in the range of 15-20% in 2012, compared to 2011, financial analysts at the bank believe spending will only be down between 10-15% versus its prior expectations. Read more >>

According to market research firm, IHS iSuppli the overall semiconductor industry days of inventory declined slightly in the third quarter of 2011, while DRAM stockpiles increased significantly. As calculated by the days of inventory (DOI) measure, overall semiconductor stockpiles in the third quarter stood at 81 days, down 2.5% from 83 days in the second quarter but DRAM stockpiles stood at 12.8 weeks, a 31% increase from 9.8 weeks in the second quarter of 2011. The figure is also significantly higher than the long-term quarterly average of 9.2 weeks. Read more >>

By Ernst Richter et al - ABSTRACT - This article follows up on a previously published paper that introduced the 110nm technology transfer of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) for the Inotera Memories joint venture at start-up [1]. In this paper, technology transfer and ramp of the 75nm DRAM technology is outlined for Inotera in full production mode. Again, technology transfer was done from Qimonda (previously Infineon Technologies) at Dresden in Germany where the technology was jointly developed with Nanya Technologies. Inotera at Taoyuan in Taiwan was the first receiving site to repeat the technology qualification. Continuous sales price reduction puts pressure on memory firms for fast introduction of technology shrinks to remain cost competitive [2]. Delays as short as a few days in the production ramp can translate into millions of dollars of missed opportunity in revenue. This paper sets forth the steps taken by the two companies to avoid such setbacks in the technology transfer. Read more >>

By Brandon Lee & Susanta Dash, CIMAC, San Jose, California, U.S. - ABSTRACT - Performance testing is carried out on an MES system to identify and eliminate bottlenecks that can potentially cause production outages and lost revenue in a semiconductor production fab. In a distributed system, bottlenecks can occur at the client site, within the server or in the  network. The MES system is the heart of the manufacturing operation and interacts with a number of other systems to support the manufacturing line in a fab. As production increases with ramping up of the production volume, the loads on the various systems that support the production also increase. This paper puts forward the potential benefits in applying the MES system for testing and validation of performance and scalability to measure the various key parameters, thus providing good ROI by early detection of potential problems. Read more >>

Dean W. Freeman, Gartner Dataquest, San Jose, California Read more >>