The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $24.05 billion for the month of January 2013, an increase of 3.8 percent from January 2012 when sales were $23.16 billion. Global sales from January 2013 were 2.8 percent lower than the December 2012 total of $24.74 billion, reflecting normal seasonal trends. Regionally, the Americas posted its highest sales of any January in the last decade. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.

Regionally, year-over-year sales increased in the Americas (10.5 percent) and Asia Pacific (7.8 percent), but decreased in Europe (-4.9 percent) and Japan (-12.3 percent). Sales increased modestly in Europe (0.4 percent) compared to the previous month, but decreased in Asia Pacific (-2.5 percent, the Americas (-3.5 percent) and Japan (-5.5 percent). January sales historically are lower than December sales due to seasonal trends.

It is a fact that semiconductor industry capital spending is becoming more concentrated with a greater percentage of spending coming from a shrinking number of companies. As a result, IC industry capacity is also becoming more concentrated and this trend is especially prevalent in 300-mm wafer technology. Figure 1 lists the 300-mm installed capacity leaders for 2012 and IC Insights’ forecast for 2013. The list was compiled and included in IC Insights’ updated report titled, "Global Wafer Capacity 2013—Detailed Analysis and Forecast of the IC Industry’s Wafer Fab Capacity." As show, Samsung was by far the leader in 2012 having about 61 percent more 300-mm capacity than second-place SK Hynix. Intel was the only other company that held a double-digit share of 300-mm capacity at the end of 2012. Assuming Micron is successful in acquiring Elpida in the first half 2013, the combined 300-mm wafer capacity of the two companies will make the merged company, the second-largest holder of 300-mm capacity in the world behind Samsung.

Of the top 10 companies on the list, half are primarily memory suppliers, two are pure-play foundries and one company, Intel, is focused on MPUs. Samsung is expected to maintain its lead in installed capacity through 2017, with aggressive capital spending plans seen over the past few years continuing over the next five years. However, in terms of growth rate, IC Insights expects the largest increase in 300-mm capacity to come from the pure-play foundries — TSMC, GlobalFoundries, UMC, and SMIC. In total, IC Insights expects four companies to more than double their collective 300-mm wafer starts per month by 2017.

IC Insights believes that the companies listed in Figure 1 will represent essentially all the advanced 300-mm IC production and capacity in the future. IC Insights believes that the top seven or eight companies — Samsung, "Micron-Elpida," TSMC, SK Hynix, Intel, Toshiba/SanDisk, and GlobalFoundries — can be considered an "elite" group that is just about guaranteed to be a driving force in 300-mm capacity additions. The remaining companies are likely to participate in future 300-mm capacity expansion but all have varying degrees of risk associated with fully realizing their long-term 300-mm IC production capacity goals.

Meanwhile, there is still much uncertainty as to when the industry will make the next wafer-size transition — from 300 mm to 450 mm — and how much it will cost to do so, but momentum continues to build and the transition can now be considered certain to happen. IC manufacturers have yet to fully optimize the high-volume manufacturing cost structure for the 300-mm wafer size. However, the potential pie-die cost savings that the larger wafer can provide is enough of a motivating factor to make the transition happen.

TSMC announced its net sales for February 2013. On a consolidated basis, net sales for February 2013 were approximately NT$41.18 billion, a decrease of 13.2 percent from January 2013 and an increase of 21.5 percent over February 2012. Revenues for January through February 2013 totaled NT$88.62 billion, an increase of 29.4 percent compared to the same period in 2012.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.09 billion in orders worldwide in January 2013 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.14, according to the January Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.14 means that $114 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in January 2013 was $952.1 million. The billings figure is 5.4 percent lower than the final December 2012 level of $927.4 million, and is 8.5 percent lower than the January 2012 order level of $1.19 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in January 2013 was $952.1 million. The billings figure is 5.4 percent lower than the final December 2012 level of $1.01 billion, and is 23.2 percent less than the January 2012 billings level of $1.24 billion.

"In January 2013, the three-month average for bookings improved again for new semiconductor manufacturing equipment orders placed by worldwide customers to North American manufacturers, while billings declined slightly," said Denny McGuirk, President and CEO of SEMI. "The ratio is above parity for the first time since May 2012, although both orders and billings currently remain tempered by the economy and relatively conservative spending plans at the start of the year."

Fab equipment spending for Front End facilities is expected to be flat in 2013, remaining around US$31.7 billion, increasing to $39.3 billion in 2014 — a 24 percent increase. The SEMI World Fab Forecast also reveals that in 2013 increases for fab equipment spending will vary by technology node and that fab construction spending will increase an overall 6.7 percent with major spending in China. The report tracks equipment spending at over 180 facilities in 2013.

More than 262 updates have been made since the last publication of the SEMI World Fab Forecast. Updates are based on announced spending plans, including major changes for TSMC, Samsung, Intel, SK Hynix, GlobalFoundries, UMC, and for some Japanese facilities and LED facilities. Despite these adjustments, the overall forecast for equipment spending for 2013 has remained about the same. Depending on macro-economic risk factors, possible scenarios project a range of -3 percent to +3 percent change rate for fab equipment spending in 2013; in other words, hovering around flat.

Though the overall outlook has improved some, fewer players in the market can afford the rising costs for R&D and upgrading facilities as the amount of money needed to upgrade facilities at the leading edge technologies is immense. The World Fab Forecast report shows increases for fab equipment spending, varying by technology node. Fab equipment spending for 17 nm and below is expected to kick off in 2013 and increase by a factor of 2.4 to about $25 billion from 2013 to 2014.

Fab construction spending is now expected to increase 6.7 percent with construction spending to reach almost US$6 billion. In 2014, however, construction project spending is expected to contract by about 18 percent. Construction spending is led by TSMC, with seven different projects for the year; followed by Intel. Fab construction spending in China will increase by a factor of four due to Samsung’s Mega fab in Xian.

Capacity is now forecasted to expand by just 2.8 percent for this year and to improve to 5.4 percent growth in 2014. Excluding 2009, the years 2012 and 2013 show the lowest growth rate for new capacity over the past ten years. However, pent-up demand is expected for some product types because capacity additions have been cut to minimum levels while chip demand keeps increasing. Capacity additions and equipment spending are expected to pick up in the second half of 2013. In 2014, at least 5 percent in new capacity will be added and fab equipment spending will increase by 24 percent.

At the Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS Europe) on February 24-26, the European semiconductor industry affirmed its ability to innovate. More than 170 top industry representatives agreed on a number of joint steps and strategic measures to strengthen their competitiveness and sustainability. The controversial question whether the best way to attack future challenges will be "More Moore" or "More than Moore," ended in an expected compromise, namely that the industry should pursue both strategies concurrently, the high-caliber participants of a panel expressed. While the "More than Moore" sector is traditionally strong in Europe, going on with "More Moore" is important for two to three device makers in Europe and in particular for the European equipment suppliers which export 80 percent of their products.

In a global scale, the semiconductor industry is approaching the move to 450-mm wafer processing technology — a step that promises to greatly boost the productivity of semiconductor manufacturers. However, since the investment to build a 450-mm fab easily exceeds the 10 billion mark, this move is regarded as risky and, for this reason, reserved to only the very largest enterprises. In the past, this perspective divided the European industry into two camps — the "More Moore" group that advocates taking on the 450-mm challenge, and the "More than Moore" group which shunned this risky investment and preferred to rely on application-oriented differentiation instead.

At the event, SEMI Europe, an industry association embracing enterprises that represent the entire value chain and organizer of ISS Europe, set up a high-ranking panel discussion on options and choices of a single European semiconductor strategy. The panel proved that entrepreneurial spirit is well alive among Europe’s chipmakers, technology suppliers and researchers.

The time is ripe to close the ranks and take on the challenges as the speakers in the panel pointed out. Judged on the basis of its expertise and abilities, the European semiconductor and equipment industry has remarkable strengths, the experts said unanimously. "We have to think in European terms," said Luc Van den hove, CEO of the Belgian Research Center Imec. Taking in a common voice allows the European Commission to act and support this industry."

Jean-Marc Chery, Chief Manufacturing and Technology Officer of chipmaker STMicroelectronics, reminded that a holistic approach is necessary. "We have to push the full value chain cooperatively," he said.

The panel participants recognized that the European semiconductor industry possesses the necessary expertise. So far the willingness to jointly face these challenges has been affected adversely by the macroeconomic environment and the Euro crisis, which discouraged far-reaching strategic decisions. The members of the European Commission that recently signaled understanding the needs of the semiconductor industry’s vital role for the high-tech location Europe, certainly contributed to the optimism in the industry. "We have all the knowledge, the materials and the equipment," said Rob Hartman, Director of Strategic Programs for leading equipment manufacturer ASML, during the panel, "Let’s do it in the EU."

European Commissioner Neelie Kroes’ idea of creating an "Airbus for chips," a European initiative for the semiconductor industry comparable to the initiative that once led to the launch of the Airbus in the aviation industry, was strongly hailed by the panel. "An ‘Airbus for chips’ could be a very powerful tool," Van den hove said. "It does not need to be a single company, it also can be a framework of companies," added Laurent Malier, CEO of French research center CEA-LETI.

The main concern of the industry is the slow decision process of the European institutions due to a complex political approval process inside of the European Union, the participants agreed. This industry is moving fast and so the decisions have to be taken fast, too. The strong Euro and the lack of qualified labor are further regarded as potential stumbling blocks for the technological progress and the business competitiveness.

At the panel, the European Commission signaled its support for the industry as well. "If policy instruments would be combined on EU and national levels, a critical mass of support for R&D for both ‘More than Moore’ and ‘More Moore’ could be achieved," said Khalil Rouhana, Director of Components & Systems at the European Commission.

In the 4^th quarter of 2012, worldwide server shipments declined 0.2 percent year-on-year, while revenue increased 5.1 percent from the 4^th quarter of 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. For year-end results, worldwide server shipments grew 1.5 percent in 2012, and server revenue declined 0.6 percent.

"2012 was a year that definitely saw budgetary constraint which resulted in delays in x86-based server replacements in enterprise and mid-sized data centers," said Jeffrey Hewitt, Research Vice President at Gartner. "Application-as-a-business data centers such as Baidu, Facebook and Google were the real drivers of significant volume growth for the year."

"Relatively weak mainframe and RISC/Itanium Unix platform market performance kept overall revenue growth in check," Mr. Hewitt said.

From a geographic perspective, the three highest growth rates were shown by North America (5.5 percent), Asia/Pacific (3.4 percent) and Latin America (0.2 percent) in terms of unit shipments. These were the only regions to experience an increase in shipments. These three regions grew at a rate of 16.3, 15.5 and 6 percent, respectively.

IBM extended its lead in the worldwide server market based on revenue in the 4^th quarter of 2012. In the 4^th quarter, IBM’s server revenue reached $5.1 billion in the 4^th quarter of 2012 to increase its global market share to 34.9 percent. This was up from 33.7 percent market share in the 4^th quarter in 2011.

Three of the top five global server vendors experienced revenue growth in the 4^th quarter of 2012, with IBM showing the strongest growth rate of 8.9 percent, while Oracle had the steepest revenue decline of 18 percent.

America’s biopharmaceutical companies are using biological processes to develop 907 medicines and vaccines targeting more than 100 diseases, according to a new report released by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

The report includes biologics in human clinical trials or under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration such as:

• 338 cancer therapeutics that target several different types of solid tumors, leukemia and lymphoma;
• 134 vaccines for infectious diseases;
• 71 medicines for autoimmune diseases including lupus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis;
• 58 treatments for cardiovascular disease.

"These medicines reflect the cutting-edge research being conducted across the country by biopharmaceutical companies in order to provide new treatment options to patients," stated PhRMA President and CEO John J.Castellani.

The biologic medicines now in development make use of a range of new technologies to harness scientific progress. Among the biologic medicines in development are:

• A genetically-modified virus-based vaccine to treat melanoma;
• A monoclonal antibody for the treatment of asthma;
• An antisense therapy for the treatment of leukemia;
• A recombinant fusion protein to treat type 2 diabetes.

"In order to realize the full potential of novel biologics to improve human health, it is essential to maintain public policy and regulatory environments to support the research and development that drives biomedical innovation," concluded Castellani.

The U.S. biopharmaceutical research sector supports nearly four million jobs across the economy, invests billions of dollars in research and development each year, and accounts for nearly 20 percent of all domestic R&D funded by U.S. businesses generating high-quality, high-wage jobs, powering the U.S. economy, and developing critical new treatments against our most costly and challenging diseases.

The U.S. market for remote cardiac monitoring devices and services is set for more than a 25 percent increase from 2011 to 2016 as health care providers seek to cut expenses by gathering data on patients outside of the costly hospital environment.

The U.S. is by far the world’s leading region for remote cardiac monitoring, with market revenue expected to rise to $867 million in 2016, up 27 percent from $686 million in 2011, according to a new report entitled "World Market for Diagnostic Cardiology Devices and Remote Cardiac Monitoring Services – 2012" from IHS InMedica.

"Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the world’s leading cause of death, and cardiac care is placing a major strain on health care providers," said Nicola Goatman, Market Analyst at IHS. "With limited physician resource to cover the ever-increasing number of cardiac patients, remote monitoring enables patients to be observed away from the hospital over longer periods of time, providing a much needed cost-saving initiative. Furthermore, remote detection’s early discovery of cardiac disease is vital for reducing costly acute care later down the line."

Traditional Holter electrocardiogram (ECG) devices typically are used to monitor heart irregularities over a 24- or 48-hour period, limiting the number of events they can detect. In comparison, remote cardiac monitoring devices can be worn during a longer period, increasing the likelihood that an abnormality will be spotted.

The U.S. market is being fueled by Medicare reimbursements that incentivize American health service providers to use remote cardiac monitoring devices. Outside of the United States, the remote cardiac monitoring business is undeveloped, with only sporadic coverage.

Remote monitoring technology has improved dramatically over the past few years, was significant research and development allocated to provide better devices and services.

Pumped by rising demand in Asia for portable heart monitors, the global market for diagnostic cardiology devices is set to expand by 12 percent from 2011 to 2016, according to a new report from IMS Research, now part of IHS.

Worldwide market revenue for diagnostic cardiology devices is projected to rise to $882 million in 2016, up from $786 million in 2011. Asia will lead in global growth, with revenue climbing 57 percent during the five-year period.

Among the various types of diagnostic cardiology devices available, Holter electrocardiogram (ECG) systems used for portable heart monitoring will be a key product driving the expansion, with their revenue increasing by nearly 13 percent from 2011 to 2016, as presented in the report, entitled "World Market for Diagnostic Cardiology Devices and Remote Cardiac Monitoring Services - 2013."

"Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the biggest cause of deaths worldwide, accounting for 17 million fatalities in 2008, according to the World Health Organization," said Nicola Goatman, Analyst for IHS. "The cost of this cardiac crisis is straining already overburdened health care services, compelling medical providers to seek preventative care measures to cut down on expensive procedures, such as coronary artery bypass surgery. Diagnostic cardiology devices, particularly portable systems, play a key role in reducing health care costs."

The diagnostic cardiology market consists of four device categories: resting ECGs, stress ECGs, ECG management systems and Holter ECG.

Resting ECG devices are found in most physicians’ offices, clinics and hospitals and are used as a first port of call to monitor heat irregularities. As a result, the global resting ECG market was the largest diagnostic cardiology market globally in 2011, estimated at $392 million. However, as the cost of health care provision continues to rise, Holter ECGs will be increasingly utilized in order to minimize costs to the health care provider.

Consumer confidence in the overall economy and sentiment toward technology both fell again in February, according to the latest figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^®.

The CEA Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), which measures consumer expectations about the broader economy, fell 2.7 points in February to 165.3. Consumer confidence in the overall economy declined for the second consecutive month.

"Consumer sentiment slipped again in February for both the overall economy as well as consumers’ appetite to purchase tech — though some of the latter drop is likely related to seasonal factors as well," said Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s Chief Economist and Senior Director of Research. "Despite wealth gains from national real estate values rising and equity prices continuing to climb, consumers remain subdued."

The CEA Index of Consumer Technology Expectations (ICTE), which measures consumer expectations about technology spending, fell 5.6 points in February to 77.4.

"The 2 percent payroll tax increase that went into effect at the beginning of the year is likely starting to have an impact on consumer purchasing decisions," said DuBravac. "Moreover, consumers remain concerned about U.S. fiscal policy as they attempt to internalize the potential impact from the impeding federal budget sequestration."

The CEA Indexes comprise the ICE and ICTE, both of which are updated on a monthly basis through consumer surveys. New data is released on the fourth Tuesday of each month. CEA has been tracking index data since January 2007.

Global shipments of multimedia home gateways (MHGs) are expected to rise by a factor of more than 100 from 2011 to 2015 as pay-TV operators seek to unify the delivery of different forms of video content to all types of devices in homes, including media tablets and smart phones.

Global MHG shipments are set to climb to 9.6 million units in 2015 and 2016, up from just 90,000 in 2011, according to an IHS Screen Digest report entitled "Multimedia Home Gateways: The Future of the Digital Home," from the TV Technology Intelligence service at information and analytics provider IHS.

"A decade ago, set-top boxes (STBs) served as the bridge from analog to digital broadcasting," said Daniel Simmons, Senior Principal Analyst at IHS and lead author of the report. "Today, MHGs are playing a similar role, acting as the bridge between broadcast and Internet Protocol (IP) video distribution. With MHGs, cable and satellite operators can utilize the efficiency of broadcast television to provide advanced services and content to all kinds of IP-connectable devices, including these increasingly popular mobile devices."

Pay-TV operators now use two separate delivery networks to deliver content to as many screens as possible. Television sets are accessed by STBs using managed delivery over broadcast d networks owned by operators. Other devices — like notebook PCs, smart phones and media tablets — rely on content delivered over-the-top (OTT) of unmanaged third-party broadband connections.

Operators cannot effectively manage delivery over a third-party network. Because of this, they struggle to offer the same content, services and quality of services to IP-connectable devices as they can to television sets via their own STBs. This dual network approach creates an inconsistent and frustrating experience for consumers and increases expenditures for operators as they are required to maintain an additional OTT delivery platform.

"MHGs allow operators to consolidate content delivery around their managed networks regardless of the viewing device," said Anna Maxbauer, Senior Analyst at IHS and one of the reports’ co-authors. "They can create a pay-tv experience that is identical and consistent across every screen in the home, where the majority of content is consumed. This improves the consumer experience and reduces OTT delivery costs."

The global market for wireless infrastructure gear used for video surveillance applications is set to more than double from 2011 to 2016, with a significant amount of growth driven by demand for low-cost systems in emerging economies like China and India. Worldwide revenue for such equipment will soar to $705 million in 2017, up nearly 160 percent from $274 million in 2011, according to a new report published by IMS Research, now part of HIS Inc. After increasing by 11 percent in 2012, growth will accelerate to 15 percent in 2013, with revenue reaching $350 million.

"Offering a relatively inexpensive solution compared to trenching cable, wireless infrastructure delivers a low-cost option for those who want to establish surveillance networks," said Josh Woodhouse, Video Surveillance Analyst at IHS. "In regions with widespread existing video surveillance infrastructure, such as the United States or the United Kingdom, the adoption of wireless infrastructure for video surveillance is growing steadily. However, emerging regions that lack such infrastructure will generate the strongest growth in the world, causing the market for video surveillance wireless infrastructure gear to boom during the coming years."

New automotive technologies that go beyond touchscreens, satellite radio, and voice-activated GPS commands are being tested and improved, and will soon begin to appear in many more new car models, resulting in solid growth for the automotive IC market through 2016, according to the 2013 edition of IC Insights’ "IC Market Drivers — A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits."

Military-like night-vision systems that quickly identify pedestrians, animals or road hazards in low-light conditions; airbags stowed in should harnesses of seatbelts; and the ability for drivers to customize the look of their dashboard instrument panels are examples of systems that are available in a select number of cars now, but will soon become available in any more vehicles. Along with backup cameras, electronics stability control, active-cruise control, and several other systems covered in the "IC Markets Drivers" report, emerging electronic systems are forecast to help the automotive IC market grow 52 percent from $18.2 billion in 2012 to $27.7 billion in 2016. This growth translates to an average annual increase of 11 percent for the automotive IC market.

Analog ICs and MCUs are forecast to benefit most from the increasing electronic content within automobiles. According to the "IC Market Drivers" report, analog ICs accounted for 41 percent of the 2012 automotive IC market. Analog ICs are used in "traditional" applications such as to gauge input functions like speed measurement and for output functions like opening and closing power windows and adjusting power seats. One of the newer applications for analog ICs in cars is LED lighting. Depending on the application, LED drivers and various converters are used to supply constant current despite variations in battery voltage.

Microcontrollers accounted for 36 percent of the automotive IC market in 2012. Sixteen-bit applications in chassis and safety applications (lane-detection warning, hands-free telematics, etc.) are increasing, but enhanced 8-bit and low-end 32-bit MCUs are competing for many of the same sockets as 16-bit controllers. Applications like anti-skid braking and airbag systems are solidly 16-bit now, but are transitioning to larger bit widths. Electronic parking assist could be a new sweet spot for 16-bit MCUs. These systems typically use two to four (but as many as eight) ultrasonic sensors to detect objects near the vehicle. Processing the additional information drives the requirements into the domain of 16-bit devices.

The 32-bit chips are incorporated into power trains to handle functions such as electronic throttle control, cylinder deactivation, variable valve timing, and fuel injection, and in next-generation chassis and safety systems including active high-end electronic stability control, complex smart airbag systems, and more. In addition, 32-bit MCUs are used to process sophisticated, real-time sensor functions within safety and cash-avoidance systems.

Though the automotive market represents only about 7 percent of total IC sales, increasing electronic system content in motor vehicles is forecast to result in this segment being one of the fastest-growing end-use categories through 2016.

When exposed to elevated temperatures, HEPA air filters can present multiple challenges for filter performance and filter integrity testing, with few black-and-white answers. To help HEPA filter customers get optimal use from their high-temperature filters, Camfil has published a new technical bulletin with recommendations and answers to common questions.

The bulletin — "High Temperature HEPA Filters FAQs" — is now available on the life sciences section of the Camfil website at http://airfilters.camfilfarr.us/high-temperature-hepa-filters-faqs_8577.html. It was produced by Sean O’Reilly, Camfil’s Global Director of Cleanroom & Life Science Segment, with support from the company’s U.S. Director of Research & Development, Steve Devine, and addresses issues including HEPA filter burn-in, the primary applications of HEPA filters at elevated temperatures (including use in ovens and tunnels designed for use in the life sciences and microelectronics industries), the differences between silicone and ceramic-sealed HEPA filters, filters created specifically for high-temperature use (such as Camfil’s Termikfil design), how rapidly a high-temperature filter can be heated up or cooled down, and the life expectancy of a high-temperature HEPA filter (the answer can vary depending on use and environment, but a 3-to-5 year life is a reasonable assumption.