Panasonic Says Nothing New Decided For Semiconductor Business

Responding to media reports, Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic Corp. (PCRFY) announced that it hasn't decided anything new regarding the semiconductor business, even though it has been studying various plans for the strategy of the business.

Nikkei reported that Panasonic has decided to sell three semiconductor production facilities in Southeast Asia to Singaporean industry giant United Test and Assembly Center as part of its ongoing restructuring efforts. These facilities assemble microcontrollers, image sensors, power chips and other products, using substrates preprocessed in Japan.

Panasonic responded that the content of the media report was not announced by the firm. According to the company, the only decision regarding the business was the announcement on December 20 about the formation of the joint venture of diffusion plants of the semiconductor business in Hokuriku region, Japan with Israeli chipmaker Tower Semiconductor Ltd., which operates under the brand name TowerJazz.

As per the latest Nikkei report, Panasonic aims to unload the facilities in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia by the end of fiscal 2014. Both companies are discussing terms and are expected to reach an agreement soon. Following the reported sale, Panasonic's only remaining chip production facilities abroad will be two Chinese facilities.

In another article:

Panasonic to Sell Japan Chip Facilities to Israel's TowerJazz Micro Electronics

The deal could be concluded in March next year.

Panasonic is close to selling three of its domestic semiconductor manufacturing facilities to Israel-based TowerJazz, as part of its efforts to do away with money-losing businesses.

Employing about 2,500 workers, the three chip manufacturing plants have been fully devalued and had a collective book value of $415m (JPY42.2bn) as of 31 March.

Upon the completion of the sale, TowerJazz will assume control over three facilities, while the details on volume of the stake and shift of the factories' workers is still being discussed.

In addition to sale of Japanese facilities, Panasonic is also in talks with another firm to sell its five abroad chip assembly factories in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and two in China.

According to Nikkei, the alliance with TowerJazz would offer Panasonic with new capital while boosting the plants' customer base and enhance production.

Upon sale of all the planned chip plants, in addition to the early retirement offers and transfers to other operations, Panasonic's semiconductor-segment workforce would be halved to about 7,000 by March 2015.

The Japanese firm is carrying out a massive restructuring to fix up its balance sheet following two consecutive years of record losses.

President Announces Semiconductor Hub

President Obama has announced that North Carolina State University will lead the new Next Generation Power Electronics Innovation Institute, in a $140 million initiative that includes a $70 million grant from the Department of Energy – the largest single grant in NC State history.

The new institute will be housed at NC State and include two-dozen academic, government, and industry partners who pitched in to match DOE’s grant. In addition, N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory and his administration helped launch the institute by committing $10 million over the next five years.

The institute will look to develop new energy solutions through the use and evolution of a technology called wide bandgap semiconductors. This technology holds the potential to increase system efficiency, reduce the size and weight of devices, improve reliability and durability, and reduce life-cycle cost. NC State is recognized as an international leader in the research and development of wide bandgap semiconductors.

“The reason I came here today is because we've got to do more to connect universities like NC State with companies like Vacon to make America the number-one place in the world to open new businesses and create new jobs,” President Obama explained in his speech at the university.

“Folks at this hub are going to develop what are called ‘wide bandgap semiconductors.’ For all you non-engineers out there, here’s what it means in the simplest terms: ‘Semiconductors, obviously, are at the heart of every piece of the electronics that we use every day -- your smartphone, your television set, these days everything … Wide bandgap semiconductors, they’re special because they use up to 90 percent less power; they can operate at higher temperatures than normal semiconductors.’ So that means they can make everything from cell phones to industrial motors to electric cars smaller, faster, cheaper. And the country that figures out how to do this first, and the companies that figure how to do this best, they’re the ones that are going to attract the jobs that come with it.”

“NC State couldn’t be more proud to have been selected to lead this new institute, which truly embodies everything that our university stands for – from our Think and Do mentality, to our collaborative spirit and unending commitment to solve to the grand challenges of society,” says NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson.

NC State was selected due to the university’s recognition as the preeminent leader in wide bandgap semiconductor technology, which is critical to the future of global energy use and conservation. The consumption of energy through power devices is projected to make up 80 percent of all electrical energy use by 2030. Such substantial use will have a tremendous impact on economic stability around the world, including a significant drain on energy, an increase in costs to consumers and industries, and potentially harmful effects on the environment.

ATIC to Invest in Semiconductor Factory

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) plans to invest up to $10 billion over the next two years in GlobalFoundries' upstate New York semiconductor factory, its chief executive said.

ATIC owns unlisted GlobalFoundries, having completed a buyout of joint venture partner Advanced Micro Devices in March 2012. ATIC is controlled by Abu Dhabi state investment fund Mubadala.

"We have received commitments from Mubadala for an additional $9-10bn for expansion of our facility in New York," ATIC chief executive Ibrahim Ajami said.

ATIC, which expects to be profitable by 2015, also plans to invest in GlobalFoundries' chip manufacturing facilities in Germany and Singapore.

The Saratoga County, New York factory, which started operations in 2012, has the capacity to produce 300 nanometer wafers at about 60,000 a month.

ATIC wants to expand the factory to produce chips with features measuring 20 and 14nm which will be growth areas in the next three to four years.

Contract chip manufacturers regularly upgrade their factories to produce smaller chips, a vital part of making electronic devices smaller, such as thinner mobile phones.

GlobalFoundries competes against leading contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, or TSMC, which is also investing heavily in technology to make smaller integrated circuits. TSMC plans to invest $17bn in new facilities in southern Taiwan, where it will make 20 nm chips.

Growth rates are in the high single-digits for the semiconductor industry, which has been hit by falling demand for personal computers. But chip manufacturers will continue to grow at a double-digit pace as more firms outsource production to companies like GlobalFoundries, he said.

Maxim Expands APAC Singapore Centre

Maxim Integrated Products has bolstered its semiconductor design team in Asia with the opening of a new centre in Singapore. The company, which specializes in integrated analogue and mixed-signal chips, is looking to establish a bigger presence among vital clients in the Asia-Pacific region. The Singapore team will focus on developing power management integrated circuits that would enable quicker and more efficient charging of smartphones and tablets.

According to market research firm Gartner, close to 426 million mobile phone units and 210 million smartphone units were sold worldwide just in the first quarter of 2013. APAC was the only region to show growth in this quarter, with more than 226 million mobile phones sold to end users, up by 6.4 per cent year-on-year.

Maxim aims to differentiate itself by building application-specific, integrated analogue and digital parts in addition to the standard analogue building blocks made by competitors such as TI and Linear.

"Driven by the strong growth in mobile, Asia is becoming a more important market for the industry and many semiconductor companies are increasing their presence in this region," said EDB Director for Electronics Terence Gan.

"This location offers the availability of design engineering expertise, excellent educational training, good infrastructure, and a strong intellectual property protection environment," said Maxim Executive Director Liang Lin. Maxim has had a presence in Singapore since 1995, when it opened a sales office to serve industrial customers.

In line with its global expansion strategy, Maxim recently completed its purchase of Volterra Semiconductor. The move underscores the company's goal of strengthening its position in the enterprise and communications markets. Volterra is a high-current, high-performance, and high-density power management solutions provider.

Soraa Opening Semiconductor Fab in NY

Soraa, a developer of gallium nitride on gallium nitride LED technology, will open a new semiconductor fabrication plant in Buffalo, N.Y. In partnership with the State of New York, the company will construct a new state-of-the-art GaN on GaN LED fabrication facility that will employ hundreds of workers. The new facility is projected to be operational in 2015. Soraa currently operates an LED fabrication plant in Fremont, Calif., one of only a few in the U.S.

“We chose Buffalo as the best location for our new fabrication facility based on several factors, including the innovative high-tech vision and strategy of Governor Cuomo; the ability to attract some of the best and brightest scientists and engineers in the world; and the capacity to tightly control the product quality and intellectual property around our LEDs through our partnership with the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering,” says Dr. Tom Caulfield, President and COO of Soraa. “With the new facility, our LED lighting capabilities will be refined and expanded, product innovation will accelerate, and light quality and efficiency will continue to improve."

“Under the largest investment in our Buffalo Billion initiative, we are building a state-of-the-art campus to house high-tech and advanced manufacturing companies that will create hundreds of jobs and leverage over a billion dollars in private investment for Western New York,” Governor Cuomo says. “Today, we welcome world-renowned high-tech company Soraa to Buffalo - an affirmation that Buffalo is back and better than ever. This project marks a giant step forward in our Buffalo Billion strategy, transforming a once vacant property into a development ready site that will create good-paying permanent jobs, make Buffalo an international hub for innovation, and attract more businesses from around the world. Today, Buffalo is truly on the move.”

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