SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
February 2016
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Toshiba
Acquiring Land for New Semiconductor Production Facility
Ultrapure
Water System Starts Operation at Russian Semiconductor Manufacturer
AKHAN
Semiconductor New Chip Production Facility
Fujifilm
to Build New Plant for Advanced Semiconductor Materials
Entegris
Expands R&D Operations
Qualcomm
Enters Joint Venture with Chinese Province
Sage
Micro's Acquisition of Initio
Toshiba Corporation announced that it is gearing up for future
expanded production of “BiCS FLASH™”, its proprietary 3D flash memory, by
acquiring 1,614,000 sq. ft. (150,000m2) of land adjacent to its Yokkaichi
Operations memory production complex in Mie prefecture. The land borders the
eastern and northern parts of the complex, and will cost approximately 3 billion
yen.
The new site is expected to be ready for construction by March
2017. Decisions on construction schedule, production capacity, and equipment
investment for the new production facilities will be made in line with market
trends within FY2016.
NAND flash memory is a driving force in data storage, with
applications range from extensive use in smartphones, tablets and other personal
digital equipment to an increasingly important role in enterprise computing and
datacenters. Production of BiCS FLASH™ requires a new cleanroom with
dedicated equipment for the 3D process. The New Fab 2 building, which will be
fully completed in the first half of FY2016, will initially provide this space.
The land Toshiba is now acquiring will provide a site for
future construction of an additional cleanroom for 3D flash memories adjacent to
the current site, which now has limited space due to current facilities. This
increased capacity will position Toshiba to quickly respond to the approaching
transition from 2D to 3D flash memories, when market trends indicate the need
for a new facility.
Toshiba positions the memory business as a core business, and
will continue to make focused investments that enhance its market
competitiveness.
A UPW (Ultra Pure Water) system has been put into operation at
Russian semiconductor manufacturer Angstrem-T
Hager + Elsässer, a German manufacturer of plants for
industrial process water treatment, has put a UPW (Ultra Pure Water) system into
operation at Russian semiconductor manufacturer Angstrem-T.
The system, which was built as part of a new construction for
the wafer manufacturer, produces 100m3 of ultrapure water every hour. The system
is said to significantly reduce the use of chemicals and produces ultrapure
water with very low residue content. The firm said this is also one of the
largest projects ever to be implemented for the semiconductor industry in
Russia.
Water is one of the most important components in the
manufacture of microelectronic devices. Ultrapure water is used to produce
chemical solutions, to pickle workpieces and for other technological processes
as well as for rinsing the crystals on circuit boards. The water used must
fulfil particularly stringent quality requirements.
The current standards for the manufacture of semiconductors
recognize four water types, depending on the size of the semiconductor elements
being manufactured with the help of the water.
In the semiconductor industry, the ultrapure water quality
always has a crucial influence on the product quality and manufacturing process
efficiency
The Angstrem-T UPW water system in Zelenograd produces
ultrapure water for elements with sizes of 90 to 130nm. A reserve has also been
provided in the event of a transition to technologies with structure sizes of
65nm and less because the smaller the nanometer range of the products to be
manufactured, the stricter the purity requirements for the water employed in the
manufacturing process.
'In the semiconductor industry, the ultrapure water quality
always has a crucial influence on the product quality and manufacturing process
efficiency. After all, 30% of the processes involve rinsing silicon plates,'
explained Anatoly Sukhoparov, Managing Director at Angstrem-T AG.
'We have been successfully working with Hager + Elsässer since
the early 1990s. For this job, we were once again able to find an optimal
solution that offered both convincing costs and strong quality,' said Sukhoparov.
The system installed consists of a number of treatment steps
that bring the water up to the required quality: preliminary cleaning,
demineralization, in-depth cleaning (deionization), degassing, treatment with UV
light, ion exchange and ultrafiltration. A multi-media filter and an active
charcoal filter are used for the pre-treatment of the raw water. In the make-up
process step, the pre-cleaned water is freed from unwanted particles, organic
and inorganic impurities and ions by means of a process that combines reverse
osmosis and electrodeionisation (EDI). A special boron polisher ensures that the
boron specifications called for by the 'International Roadmap for
Semiconductors' guidelines are met. The concluding final cleaning takes place in
the polishing loop.
'Our two-stage procedure provides significantly improved
treatment results with regard to purification. It also allows for much longer
treatment periods and therefore ensures that savings are achieved due to less
frequent resin changeovers,' said Eugen Martens, Project Manager of Hager +
Elsässer.
The new UPW system removes virtually all inorganic and organic
accompanying substances and ions from the groundwater used. Thus it meets the
stringent requirements with regard to minimizing residues.
AKHAN Semiconductor, Inc., a developer of diamond
semiconductor technology, this week announced that it is deploying 200mm
manufacturing equipment and process in its new production facility in Gurnee,
Illinois, continuing its preparation for delivering AKHAN diamond semiconductor
based-technology products to the company’s first commercial customer this
quarter.
“The proven, high-yielding 200mm semiconductor manufacturing
process is proving ideal for the production of a wide range of semiconductors –
sensors, MEMS, analog, power management – that are embedded in the rapidly
growing number of connected devices, from smartphones and tablets to cars, home
appliances, wearables, and commercial and industrial applications,” said AKHAN
COO Carl Shurboff.
According to market research firm Gartner, Inc., the number of
Internet-connected devices, now referred to as the Internet of Things, will grow
from 6.3 billion in 2016 to more than 20 billion in 2020.
This explosion in connected products is driving high global
demand for all types of new semiconductors to power this new era of connected
computing. SEMI noted in its Global 200mm Fab Outlook to 2018 that 200mm fab
capacity is expected to grow from 5.2 million wafer starts per month in 2015 to
more than 5.4 million in 2018.
“The timing for our diamond-based semiconductor technology’s
market debut could not be better,” said AKHAN CEO Adam Khan. “By using man-made
diamonds at the core of our new chip technology, we are ushering in a new
generation of semiconductor solutions that operate at higher temperatures, are
thinner and require less power. These are exactly the attributes required for
all the products that make up the Internet of Things.”
The AKHAN diamond semiconductor based technology will enable a
new generation of commercial, industrial and consumer products such as flexible
and transparent displays that can be used in wearables and thinner consumer
devices that last longer. On the commercial side, AKHAN is already developing
new diamond windows for industrial, defense and aerospace applications.
AKHAN’s technology is based on a new process that uses
man-made diamond rather than silicon to produce new chip materials. It is a
result of the marriage of two scientific breakthroughs: the ability to use
nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films and a new doping process the makes it
possible to use NCD as a semiconductor material.
The new AKHAN production facility was opened in mid-November.
The company is actively hiring to staff the new facility which is expected to
employee 100 people in the next two years.
Fujifilm Corporation recently announced that its semiconductor
business subsidiary, FUJIFILM Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. will build a new
plant for manufacturing advanced semiconductor materials in the city of Tainan,
to expand its production in Taiwan.
The new plant is expected to be operational in August 2016,
and will begin with production of developing solutions. With the full-scale
arrival of the age of the Internet of Things (IoT), the semiconductor market is
projected to expand strongly in future. Taiwan has a high concentration of
semiconductor factories with a large production share globally, making the
region well-positioned to grow further as the hub of semiconductor production.
FFEM established FUJIFILM Electronic Materials Taiwan Co.,
Ltd. in Taiwan’s Hsinchu Country in 1996. The company began with the production
of developing solutions, and has since expanded its array of production items to
include photo resists.
The local production structure has constantly been enhanced,
as seen in the launch of the second plant (Hsinchu) for producing cutting-edge
NTI demand for advanced semiconductor materials.
FFEM will build its
third plant in Taiwan for producing advanced semiconductor materials in Science
Park in Tainan City, where the manufacturing facilities of many of its customers
are based. Taking advantage of its close proximity to customers’ sites, the
company strives to boost its customer-support capability and shorten its supply
chain.
Moving beyond just catering to the expanding demand for
advanced semiconductor materials in Taiwan, Fujifilm will have multiple
production sites to distribute risk and ensure a stable supply of advanced
semiconductor materials to customers – even in natural disasters. The new plant
will begin producing developing solutions, and gradually expand its range of
production items.
With this Tainan plant
in Taiwan, joining the network of existing production sites in Asia, at Shizuoka
(Japan), Hsinchu (Taiwan), Suzhou (China) and Cheonan (Korea), FFEM will
continue to strengthen its stable supply of advanced semiconductor materials and
improve quality control further in order to attain a higher level of customer
satisfaction.
FFEM is a subsidiary at the core of Fujifilm’s semiconductor
materials business, which forms part of the highly functional materials category
on which Fujifilm has focused its commitment. The company produces and provides
a worldwide supply of photoresists and image sensor materials process of
semiconductors, as well as developers, cleaners, CMP slurries and other advanced
semiconductor, CMP slurries and image sensor materials developers in 2014, in a
bid to address the ever-expanding used in the manufacturing materials.
It will continue to supply products useful for semiconductor
manufacturing, and expand the Customer support structure in its contributions to
the advancement of the semiconductor industry.
Entegris, Inc., a developer of yield-enhancing materials and
solutions for highly advanced manufacturing environments, announced the
expansion of its liquid filtration/purification analytical science and research
and development facility in Suwon, South Korea. As an addition to its existing
Korea Technology Center (KTC) facility, the expanded lab includes advanced
chemical/water analysis and material characterization capabilities, along with
filtration device instrumentation. These new capabilities will allow closer
collaboration with local customers to solve specific liquid filtration
challenges by providing optimized solutions for their advanced processes.
“Sophisticated analysis of the interaction and compatibility
between complex process chemistries and filtration devices are increasingly
important as technology nodes advance. We continue to invest in these
technologies ̶
close to our customers
̶ to optimize the
performance of our filters with the unique chemical solutions our customers
require,” said Entegris Vice President of Liquid Microcontamination Control,
Clint Haris. “Expanding the KTC liquid filter lab allows us to increase
collaboration with Korean customers and to integrate new developments into new
process solutions faster.”
The expansion represents Entegris’ on-going commitment to
serving the Korean semiconductor manufacturing market and its continued effort
to work directly with customers on a local level to solve critical issues for
advanced technology processes. Entegris is the leading provider of liquid
filtration and purification technologies for the most advanced semiconductor
applications.
In addition to the expanded analytical and R&D liquid
filtration services, Entegris’ KTC also provides wet and dry chemistry
development, chemistry formulation and pilot scale-up, on-site metrology with
real-time reporting, and microcontamination and liquid filter characterization.
Plessey Semiconductors has launched a major expansion
programme which could create up to 400 new jobs at its headquarters in Plymouth
after securing a £30m loan.
The company announced the major expansion to its LED
manufacturing facility, after securing the cash from Deutsche Bank AG and a
grant of £6.7 million from the Regional Growth Fund.
The £60 million expansion will create a state of the art
Gallium Nitride LED semiconductor manufacturing facility, providing the base for
new Solid State Lighting (SSL) technologies and products.
It will substantially increase Plessey's production capability
and capacity, create more than 400 highly skilled jobs and enable it to capture
a significant share of the multi-billion dollar, and growing, global SSL market.
SSL forms a significant part of global efforts to reduce
energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The SSL market size is
projected to reach $22 billion by 2020, growing at a compounded annual growth
rate of 7.31%. The market will be driven by high brightness LEDs delivering
higher energy efficiency in all lighting applications.
Plessey is a leading expert in the manufacture of
semiconductor products used in sensing, measurement and controls applications,
and is at the forefront of the SSL revolution. Plessey's award winning
technology provides greater design freedom whilst substantially cutting the cost
of LED lighting by using standard silicon manufacturing techniques instead of
more traditional, expensive sapphire-based techniques.
Iain Silvester, Plessey's chief financial officer, said:
"Deutsche Bank is providing us with a senior secured term loan facility that
meets our financial needs for the next three to five years. The bank has come up
with a progressive flexible facility that supports our expansion plans for our
manufacturing capacity here in Plymouth.
"We will increase its manufacturing capacity from over 100
million square millimeters of Gallium Nitride material per year to more than 3
billion square millimeters. The facility modifications will take place during
2015, with additional manufacturing tools and facilities coming on stream to the
end of this year and through to 2017. During this time we expect about 400 new
jobs to be created."
Michael LeGoff, Plessey's chief executive officer, added: "We
are entering a very exciting period for the company with our new technology and
products now gaining traction in one of the fastest growing technology markets,
solid state lighting. The expansion is highly significant for the company but
also for British high-tech manufacturing. It aligns well with national
strategies, such as the Growth Review, that support manufacturing and make the
UK a global leading exporter of high value goods."
Francis Clark began working with Plessey in 2009 when he was
approached by Michael LeGoff to assist in the fundraising and deal structuring
for a MBO led by Mr. LeGoff.
At the time the German parent, XFab, was close to shutting
down the facility and transferring the assets back to Germany. To persuade XFab
to sell to the management team they needed to present a fully funded turnaround
business case.
The Francis Clark team, led by Mark Greaves and supported by
Nick Woodmansey and Dave Armstrong, sourced grant funding and bank debt secured
on the property and assets of the business.
This provided the company with enough cash headroom to trade
out the remainder of the work for XFab whilst allowing the management team to
implement the start of the new business strategy seen today.
Since the MBO, Francis Clark have helped the business secure
more than £10m of RGF grant. Dave Armstrong, who advised Plessey on their RGF
applications, said: "Plessey are at the forefront of the development of LED
technology.
"The RGF support, when combined with the Deutsche Bank loan,
will enable rapid expansion of their manufacturing capacity, bringing undoubted
economic benefits to Plymouth and the South West.
"From advising on the MBO to helping the company secure grant
funding, we have worked closely with Plessey and are thrilled to have
contributed to their success."
This provided the company with enough cash headroom to trade
out the remainder of the work for XFab whilst allowing the management team to
implement the start of the new business strategy seen today.
Since the MBO, Francis Clark have helped the business secure
more than £10m of RGF grant. Dave Armstrong, who advised Plessey on their RGF
applications, said: "Plessey are at the forefront of the development of LED
technology.
"The RGF support, when combined with the Deutsche Bank loan,
will enable rapid expansion of their manufacturing capacity, bringing undoubted
economic benefits to Plymouth and the South West.
"From advising on the MBO to helping the company secure grant
funding, we have worked closely with Plessey and are thrilled to have
contributed to their success."
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has revealed
that it will increase its capital expenditure this year to an amount ranging
from $9 billion to $10 billion as it targets a bigger share of finer geometry
chips. The world's largest foundry is making a big bet after slashing its capex
several times last year to a final total of $8.1 billion. The company estimates
that its 2016 revenue growth rate may double the company's expected five per
cent gain for the overall foundry segment this year.
TSMC said it foresees 'major product advancements' in three
areas during the next two years, including high-end smartphones,
high-performance computing and emerging applications such as virtual reality,
gaming and automotive electronics.
"All of those advances will be supported by TSMC's 10nm and
7nm technologies," stated co-CEO Mark Liu, TSMC. The company expects to complete
process and product qualification for 10nm chips and begin customer tapeouts
during 1Q16, he said. The company said it is on schedule to start production at
the 7nm node in 2017.
TSMC, which makes silicon for some of the largest companies in
the smartphone business such as Apple, Qualcomm and MediaTek, said it expects
customers to remain cautious with inventory control following a drop in demand
for high-end handsets that started during 2015. The company forecast demand will
return to normal in 2Q16. TSMC expects 1Q16 revenue to fall in a range from
about $5.9 billion to nearly $201 billion, down almost 10 per cent from almost
$6.63 billion it recorded in 1Q15.
Still, the company's outlook may be brightening.
"I expect Q1 to be stronger than what we are forecasting now,"
Chang said.
Even so, Chang said it's likely that revenue growth for the
overall semiconductor industry will fall in a range of two per cent to three per
cent for the next five years.
Smartphones will continue to be a major driver for TSMC's
business in 2016, Liu said. TSMC's silicon content in high-end and mid-range
smartphones is increasing, contributing to the company's expectation that it
will participate broadly in the forecast eight per cent growth this year in the
smartphone business, he added.
The company plans to start production of 5nm chips sometime in
2019, about two years after it launches the 7nm node, according to Liu.
After a series of setbacks at 10nm and 7nm, TSMC now appears
ready to use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography to make 5nm chips.
"We've made significant progress with EUV to prepare for its
insertion, likely in 5nm," according to Liu. "We are installing third-generation
EUV tools. Our goal is to double the data-processing throughput for application
processors, graphic processors, programmable gate arrays and other processors."
The company said it has achieved output of 500 wafers per day
during a one-month period using EUV.
In 4Q15, TSMC completed the development of 16nm FinFET Compact
(16nm FFC), a low-power, low cost version of its 16nm FinFET products that were
introduced in the middle of 2015, according to co-CEO C.C. Wei. The company
expects 16nm FFC to start production during the current quarter.
TSMC forecast demand for its 16nm products to increase,
accounting for about 20 per cent of the company's revenue in 2016, according to
Wei. The company predicted that its share of the 16nm/14nm market will increase
to 70 per cent in 2016 from 50 per cent in 2015, he said. TSMC's largest
competitor in that niche is Samsung.
Qualcomm has deepened its Chinese relations by partnering with
the provincial government of Guizhou in southwest China for a joint venture
worth approximately $280 million (RMB 1.85 billion).
Officials from Qualcomm and Guizhou provincial government
signed a strategic cooperation agreement to form the Guizhou Huaxintong
Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd (GHST). The joint venture will focus on the
design, development and sale of advanced server chipset technology in China,
which is the second largest country in the world for server technology sales,
according to analysts.
"We are not only providing investment capital, but we also are
licensing our server technology to the joint venture and assisting with R&D
process and implementation expertise," said Derek Aberle, president of Qualcomm.
"This underscores our commitment as a strategic partner in China."
As part of the deal, the U.S. chipmaker will license its
proprietary server chip technology and provide R&D processes to GHST to support
the commercial viability and success of the new company.
The joint venture will be based at Guian New Area, with
operations in Beijing.
Guizhou is the first to build an industrial cluster for big
data development in China. Guian New Area is an important base for the
development of the big data industry and will include a green data center
cluster of more than 2.5 million servers for companies including China Telecom,
China Unicom and China Mobile.
In addition, Qualcomm will also establish an investment
company in the province to serve as a vehicle for future investments in the
country. The overarching agreement establishes a long-term commitment between
the two parties to work closely together to identify and pursue business
opportunities in Guizhou, Qualcomm said in a press release.
The announcement came on the heels of several other
investments by Qualcomm in China, including Qualcomm's cooperation with
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Cooperation (SMIC) to manufacture
smartphone chips, investment into the SMIC Advanced Technology Research and
Development (Shanghai) Corp equity joint venture and the creation of a $150
million USD China Investment Fund.
"The central government has attached great importance to
development of the integrated circuit (IC) industry by formulating the IC
Industry Development Outlook and setting up the National IC Industry Investment
Fund to boost the development of the IC industry," said Qin Rupei, executive
vice governor, Guizhou Provincial Government.
Sage Microeletronique Corp acquired Initio Corporation on the
last day of 2015. Since the second half of 2015, Chinese companies were
frequently making acquisitions to integrate upstream and downstream sectors of
the semiconductor industry. While the shockwaves of Tsinghua Unigroup's recent
acquisitions were still rippling through the semiconductor industry, China's
only solid-state storage controller chip company, Sage Microelectronique Corp
(hereinafter referred as Sage Micro), signed an agreement to acquire Initio
Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Initio).
Initio is a turnkey storage and retrieval solution provider
and also has an extensive line of bridge controller IC products. Sage Micro has
also acquired Initio's entire bridge controller IC product line through its
US-based wholly-owned subsidiary. The acquisition also includes Initio's related
IP portfolio accumulated over two decades as well as its trademark and brand.
The price of the acquisition has not been disclosed.
Initio, a globally renowned supplier of bridge controller ICs,
was founded in 1994. It specializes in high-speed transmission interface control
technologies, including SATA and USB, as well as other high-speed interface
bridge controller ICs. Its customers include first-tier global optical drive and
hard drive suppliers such as WD and Seagate. According to information from
reliable sources, Sage Micro's CEO Dr. Jerome Luo & its CTO Chris Tsu worked in
Initio's R&D Department from 2008-2011. In addition, Larry Ko, who was Initio's
founder and vice president of engineering, also joined Sage Micro one year ago.
The founders history of working together will assure that the integration of the
two companies will progress smoothly and quickly.
After acquiring Initio, Sage Micro will integrate its many
bridge controller IC product lines. Through this acquisition, Sage Micro has not
only obtained SATA and USB physical layer technologies, but also related patents
and certifications. Sage Micro has become China's only vendor that possesses a
full line of storage controller IC technologies and products. Going forward,
Sage Micro plans on evolving from a solid-state storage IC supplier and memory
module vendor, into a storage solutions supplier with a wide range of high-speed
transmission interface technologies.
Sage Micro has the most complete propriety solid-state hard
drive control IC IP portfolio in China, and has keenly implemented strategies
for expanding into the enterprise storage space as well as the data encryption
space by adding encryption technologies to its storage controller ICs. Just four
years after its founding, Sage Micro gained much interest from investors in
China and started trading (#834203) on China's New Third Board (OTC market).
In today's semiconductor industry, Chinese tech companies
continue to invest heavily in mergers and acquisitions to expand production
capacity. China's state-owned companies have taken aggressive and high-profile
approaches to acquire intellectual property with Tsinghua Unigroup recent
acquisitions and joint ventures being particular noteworthy. Sage Micro's
strategy has been to proceed slowly and steadily, using its technological
capabilities as a basis for integrating other teams, placing intellectual
property and IC technologies at the core of its strategy. In addition to being
particularly low key, Sage Micro's acquisition focuses on Initio's product line
as well as its trademark and brand, effectively avoiding the complexities of
mergers between companies from different countries and regions, and yet still
achieving the desired results. This shows that the people handling the
acquisition are not only extremely experienced, but also extremely
sophisticated, embodying the low-key yet highly practical and effective style of
traditional Chinese business people from Zhejiang. This acquisition has also
shown to the world how mature China's high-tech industry has become in terms of
learning, strategic thinking, and style. From this point of view, Taiwan's
related industries need to adjust their attitudes and ways of looking at China's
tech industry.
From the perspective of the storage industry, Sage Micro is
implementing a global strategy for development of China's Big Data industry,
which differs from Taiwan-based IC design houses' past strategy, which only
focused on the PC industry when designing storage products. Taiwan's controller
vendors, such as SMI and Phison, are facing difficulties due to the contraction
of the PC industry as well as traditional storage needs being replaced by
cloud-based storage solutions. Therefore, these companies are in dire need of
transformation in terms of their product lines. In contrast to the strategies of
Taiwan's companies, Sage Micro has integrated strategies of Big Data storage
vendors in the United States and further strengthened information security
features to meet requirements of the local market, making it an unexpected
rising star in the industry. The Chinese government is fully supporting Tsinghua
Unigroup's aggressive acquisitions and encouraging the techno political campaign
of "innovation by the whole nation and entrepreneurship by all people." Rising
stars in the tech industry such as Sage Micro are aggressively looking for
acquisition target. The global storage industry is heating up but these
developments have also deepened the crisis faced by Taiwan's controller vendors
and have made it even more difficult for them to survive.
In the post-PC era, with Big Data storage trends on the
horizon, it can be anticipated that Sage Micro will continue to expand its
products and its reach through bold and aggressive strategies. This will have an
extremely strong impact on Taiwan's storage IC vendors. We hope that Taiwan's
storage IC vendors can quickly rise up to this challenge and devise effective
strategies for overcoming the obstacles that lie ahead.
McIlvaine Company
Northfield, IL 60093-2743
Tel:
847-784-0012; Fax:
847-784-0061
E-mail:
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