SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
July 2017
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
LG
Electronics Cleared by Korean Gov’t to Build LCD Fabs in India
Samsung
Begins Production at New Semiconductor Plant
Zhonghuan
Semiconductor Buys Share in GCL-Poly Energy Planned Polysilicon Plant
Growth in
SiC Power Modules in Upstate New York
Samsung
Commissions World’s Largest Semiconductor Plant
Samsung’s
Multi-Billion Fab in Pyeongtaek Starts Production
Synapse
Expands Asia Footprint with Vietnam Center
Air
Products to Supply Services to JCET STATS ChipPAC
Toshiba
Memory to Invest in Manufacturing Facilities for Fab 6 at Yokkaichi Operations
Advanced
Energy Celebrates Opening of Service Center
Bosch to
Set Up New Semiconductor Fab in Dresden, Germany
SEMI
Europe Applauds New Semiconductor Manufacturing Investment
Air
Products to Supply JHICC's New Memory Fab in China
South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. gained the go-ahead from
the Korean authority to design and build India’s first liquid crystal display
(LCD) manufacturing facility in Gen-8 substrate sheets (2250x2500mm). Even fab-advanced
Taiwanese and Japanese companies have not attempted commissioning in building
high-precision display facilities outside their country for fear of a technology
leak.
According to industry sources, LG Electronics’ Materials
and Production engineering Research Institute (PRI) received the green light
from Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on its business plan of
delivering a LCD manufacturing facility on a turnkey basis in Nagpur, central
India, for Twinstar Display of India’s Vedanta Group.
The Indian conglomerate pledged $10 billion to establish
the country’s first LCD plant. India currently relies entirely on imports for
display panels. It is in discussion with the Indian government to jointly
shoulder the investment. How much LG will earn from the design, equipment
supply, and construction is not immediately known.
Once it gains the final approval from the Indian state
government, LG Electronics, based on panel-making expertise of its sister
company and world’s top LCD player LG Display, will aim to complete construction
by 2018.
LG’s PRI was primarily a research unit developing
production technologies but since last year has been mass producing equipment
and supplying them under its own label. It will provide the machinery to the
production lines set up by LG Electronics and LG Display.
LG is eyeing a new revenue source from exporting
manufacturing facilities to underdeveloped economies. LG Display is currently
phasing out of the LCD business with greater focus on the lucrative OLED
business.
LG hopes the panel-making facility would lead to exports of
other parts and TV set facilities to India in the longer run.
Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced
semiconductor technology, announced that its new semiconductor fabrication line
in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, has begun mass production and shipping its first
product to customers. The new facility will focus on the production of Samsung’s
fourth-generation V-NAND (64 layers), adding to the company’s leading capacity
for cutting-edge memory products.
“With the dedication and support of our employees,
customers and partners, our new Pyeongtaek campus represents a new chapter in
Samsung’s semiconductor operations,” said Oh-Hyun Kwon, Vice Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Samsung Electronics.
With two years of construction since it broke ground in
May, 2015, the fabrication line at the Pyeongtaek campus is currently the
largest single Fab in the industry.
Recent emerging IT trends such as the Internet of Things
(IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), big data and automotive technologies has
sharply increased demand for next-generation components. In response to these
market needs, Samsung, across both Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display,
plans to reinforce its manufacturing capabilities by investing more than KRW 37
trillion in investments to its global production facilities.
By 2021, Samsung will invest a total of KRW 30 trillion
into its current Pyeongtaek line to expand its semiconductor fabrication
capacity
Samsung also plans to invest KRW 6 trillion in its
Hwaseong, South Korea, site for a semiconductor fabrication line optimized to
install state-of-the-art infrastructure including Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV)
equipment
Samsung Display is reviewing plans to establish a new OLED
manufacturing site in Asan, South Korea, by 2018
In addition, Samsung’s plans to construct a second
semiconductor fabrication line in Xi’an, China, site are also under review.
Samsung’s first semiconductor fabrication line in Xi’an was constructed in 2014
and is presently in full operation.
With the new investments, Samsung aims to strengthen its
global fabrication network and accelerate the overall development of the IT
industry.
Leading polysilicon and solar wafer producer GCL-Poly
Energy Holdings has sold a 10% share in its planned 60,000MT polysilicon plant
in Xinjiang, China for around US$22 million (RMB 150 million) to monocrystalline
wafer producer Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co.
Zhonghuan Semiconductor said in a financial filing that the
investment in the new polysilicon plant would secure high-purity grade
polysilicon for its ingot and wafer operations as demand increased. The wafer
producer also noted that the investment would create a stable supply of
polysilicon with stable pricing.
Due to Chinese restrictions on imported polysilicon, prices
have remained at higher levels in China than in the rest of the world.
GCL-Poly’s planned new polysilicon plant comprises of
40,000MT of new-built facilities and 20,000MT of existing equipment at it Xuzhou
facilities, which are planned to be removed and relocated to Xinjiang. The
expected total capital investment is said to be around US$832 million.
Danfoss Silicon Power will establish packaging operations
in Utica’s Computer Chip Commercialization Center (Quad-C), generating more
high-skill jobs in that area while advancing SiC technology.
Although power semiconductor companies have started to take
advantage of silicon carbide (SiC) material, such activity is still limited. Yet
many potential SiC applications are thought to be available, such as solar
inverters, automotive inverters, and battery storage. SiC power devices could
potentially benefit numerous applications at high voltages and, in the future,
even at low voltages. SiC technology provides benefits like high efficiency and
high power ratings in smaller packages at high switching frequencies.
Working to accelerate the commercialization of SiC is the
New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium (NY-PEMC). This
public-private partnership helps to develop the next generation of materials
used in semiconductors at a state-owned R&D facility in Albany, N.Y. As a result
of these efforts, it is creating thousands of high-skilled, high-paying jobs in
upstate New York. The latest company to join this effort is Danfoss. It will
manufacture SiC power modules using SiC chips provided by General Electric (GE).
Danfoss is expected to establish SiC power-module operations in the Mohawk
Valley by early 2018.
Danfoss will occupy the full Quad-C in conjunction with the
establishment of the New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium
Packaging Center.
New York State is financing all startup costs as well as
the production facilities. Danfoss will lease both the facility and equipment
from New York State and occupy the entire facility in Utica, which includes two
cleanrooms, labs, offices, and logistics space. This project is expected to
create at least 300 new jobs.
“With Danfoss’ commitment to establishing state-of-the-art
manufacturing operations in Utica, we are cementing New York’s role as a leader
in semiconductor research and development, while creating hundreds of
good-paying jobs in the region,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “This expansion is
proof positive that we are attracting 21st-century companies from across the
globe to Utica, and leveraging next-generation technology to foster the
continued growth and success of Mohawk Valley communities for years to come.”
“This is a very important step for Danfoss, as the U.S. is
our biggest market and essential to our business. The cooperation with GE has
great strategic impact for Danfoss—it is important for our future growth plans
in the U.S., and we have big expectations for the further developments in this
highly specialized area,” says Danfoss Executive Vice President and COO Kim
Fausing.
Demand for SiC devices will keep increasing to fill the
growing demand for smaller and lighter solutions due to the electrification of
the world. SiC diodes and inverters had been developed successfully and there
are already SiC power modules in the market. SiC devices have a lot of potential
and with more research and development, better SiC solutions will be created.
This New York partnership will definitely increase the research and development
of SiC technology on the U.S. East Coast.
Samsung has put into operation the world’s biggest
semiconductor plant in South Korea. The electronics giant has recently announced
that its brand new semiconductor fabrication facilities located in Pyeongtaek,
Gyeonggi Province has started mass producing as well as shipping its initial
products to its customers on July 4. This new manufacturing facility will
concentrate on producing Samsung’s fourth-generation 64-layer 3D NAND flash
storage, boosting the company’s position as the number one producer of this
cutting-edge flash memory in the world. Samsung started constructing this
manufacturing facility in May 2015, and it took two years of continuous work
before the plant was completed. The whole facility has a total area of 304,509
million sq. ft. (2.83 million square meters) and the total area reserved for its
production line is about 8,500,400 million sq. ft. (790,000 square meters). This
plant is just a part of a cluster of the largest semiconductor manufacturing
facility of Samsung Electronics that is located in Hwaseong and Giheung.
Mr. Oh-Hyun Kwon, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
of Samsung Electronics, addressed the company’s stakeholders as soon as
Samsung’s newest manufacturing plant was commissioned. He said that the success
of this plant will depend on the dedication and support of their partners, their
customers and their employees. He added that this new facility represents a new
chapter in the company’s semiconductor operations. While the company has already
invested a big sum of money in this project, the electronics giant announced
that it is still investing in other manufacturing facilities in South Korea. The
company revealed that it has already invested 15.6 trillion won ($13.5 billion)
so far and will increase this amount to 14.4 trillion won ($12.5 billion) until
2021. It has also put in six trillion won to run extreme UV lithography
equipment in the Hwaseong Campus.
The recent emerging IT trends such as artificial
intelligence, Internet of Things and big data and automotive technologies might
have spurred the demand for next-generation electronic components. Samsung must
have been responding to this increase in demand by investing in new and bigger
semiconductor manufacturing facilities. Currently, Samsung Electronics and
Samsung Display are boosting the capacities of their manufacturing facilities
even more by investing over 37 trillion won ($32 billion) in all of its
facilities, not just in South Korea but all over the world.
Samsung announced that it had started mass production of
64-layer V-NAND memory in its newly build fab in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, and
the first batch had already been shipped to one of the company’s customers. The
new fab was intended to focus on DRAM manufacturing, but in the light of NAND
flash shortage the company adjusted its plans at some point and now the plant
produces V-NAND.
Samsung’s semiconductor manufacturing facility in
Pyeongtaek will be the largest and one of the most expensive fabs in the world
once it ramps up its production to full capacity. Samsung announced plans to
build it in October, 2014, and then started construction in April, 2015.
Initially, Samsung announced plans to invest ₩15.6 trillion (around $13.5
billion at the current exchange rate) in the facility, but over the past couple
of years, it announced further expansion plans for the fab. As a result,
investments in the Pyeongtaek facility will total ₩30 trillion ($26.1 billion)
by 2021, making the complex the most important semiconductor manufacturing
facility ever.
According to some reports, Samsung initially planned to
produce DRAM in its new fab, but given its size and scale, it was doubtful that
the plant would be used only for DRAM. As it appears, Samsung decided to produce
fourth-generation 3D V-NAND flash memory in its Pyeongtaek facility first,
possibly because there is growing demand for NAND by Samsung’s own divisions,
including Samsung Mobile. It remains to be seen when the fab in Pyeongtaek
starts to manufacture DRAM ICs, which are also in short supply nowadays. Keep in
mind that 3D NAND and DRAM components are produced using completely different
process technologies and the former requires some additional equipment.
Therefore, Samsung and other memory makers cannot switch from NAND to DRAM and
vice versa without some level of equipment adjustment and reconfiguration of fab
space.
At present, Samsung does not talk about the number of wafer
starts at the Pyeongtaek fab because it is not operating at full capacity. That
said, the plant is not going to have a substantial impact on global NAND supply
in the coming weeks or months. Once fully ramped several quarters down the road,
the Pyeongtaek facility will have a significant impact on both NAND and DRAM
industries, as it will increase the output of both types of memory (assuming
that it will be used for DRAM in the coming quarters).
Samsung does not disclose what kind of flash memory chips
it produces in terms of capacity and performance, but says that they rely on its
64-layer V-NAND design. So far, the company officially has announced only two
64-layer V-NAND ICs. First is the 512 Gb 3D TLC NAND chip with an 800 MT/s
interface data rate that the company demonstrated at the Flash Memory Summit
2016. Second, the 256 Gb 3D TLC NAND IC with a 1000 MT/s interface data rate,
the company launched earlier this year and began to produce in high volume in
June (presumably at another facility).
Manufacturing of 64-layer 256 Gb chips in at least two
facilities indicates that Samsung is ramping up volume production of its
fourth-generation V-NAND chips and therefore it is logical to expect new
products based on such ICs (e.g., SSDs, memory cards, etc.) to hit the market in
the coming months. Among the more interesting products will be higher-end SSDs
based on 256 Gb V-NAND chips featuring a faster interface, but it remains to be
seen what kind of real-world performance advantages they are going to bring
given the bandwidth limitations of PCIe 3.0 x4 bus (used for NVMe M.2 drives),
or for smaller capacities. So far, Samsung has only introduced the OEM-oriented
PM871b SATA SSDs in 2.5" and M.2 form-factors based on its fourth-gen V-NAND
memory.
Silicon Valley-based Synapse Design is looking for 100
highly-experienced engineers as it expands its operations in Vietnam.
Two years after starting its Vietnam operations in Ho Chi
Minh City, Silicon Valley-based Synapse Design has inaugurated its second
engineering design center in the city of Da Nang.
Synapse said its Ho Chi Minh team has been working on
diverse and complex chips—from camera processor chips and 8 cores GHz CPU
processors to application processor for automotive, finger recognition chip,
wireless charger chip, networking chip, printer chip, 4G LTE RF and baseband
chipset, DDR4 PHY and PCIe hardening—for tier-one customers which go in very
high volume production.
When researching a site for its second Vietnam design
center, Synapse said Da Nang surpassed Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as the most
business friendly environment in Vietnam. Centrally located and in same time
zone and a short flight from any major Asian city, the company said its
engineers can quickly be on site to support tier-one customers, many of whom are
located in Japan, China, India, Taiwan and Singapore. And compared to other
large cities in Asia, Da Nang has a very low employee attrition rate, allowing
Synapse to provide strong, customer-focused design teams, according to the
company.
"As we began researching the best areas for our company and
our customers, we found that Da Nang is the third largest economic center in
Vietnam with the highest growth in the country,” said Satish Bagalkotkar,
Synapse CEO and president. “Da Nang provides a large, well-educated engineering
workforce—many of whom have worked with our tier 1 customers."
Synapse COO and MD Devesh Gautam said they are quickly
filling engineering positions for the Da Nang office. The company plans to hire
more than 100 design engineers between the Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City offices.
“This new design center in Da Nang and the center we opened
in Ranchi, India, allow us to guarantee that our customers receive highest
quality engineering services at the lowest labor costs," Gautam said.
Outside of Vietnam, Synapse has open vacancies for over 200
engineering positions in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. The design services company,
which has engineering centers in seven countries, acquired Ranchi-based
engineering services company Asilicon in April.
Synapse supports design and development of products for
IDM, ODM and fabless semiconductor companies targeting automotive, 5G, IoT,
storage data, gaming, camera, mobile and networking markets, and delivers
embedded software services for storage and LTE products. The company claimed to
have tapped out 35 complex SoCs last year at process nodes ranging from 28nm
down to 7nm.
Air Products announced it has been awarded a long-term
contract by JCET STATS ChipPAC Korea Ltd. (JSCK), a leading semiconductor
packaging and test services provider, to supply tonnage quantities of nitrogen
to its new production facility in Incheon, South Korea.
Air Products will build, own and operate a new on-site
nitrogen plant to produce gaseous nitrogen for JSCK’s new facility located in
the Yeongjongdo development area of the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ). Air
Products will start supplying JSCK with liquid nitrogen from another one of its
facilities beginning the middle of this year.
“We are honored to have been selected to support JSCK’s
expansion plan and look forward to growing together with our valued customer,”
said Kyo-Yung Kim, president of Air Products Korea. “Air Products has been a
leading supplier to electronics customers worldwide thanks to their longstanding
trust in our safety and reliability, as well as product and service quality. We
will continue to bring innovative and efficient gas solutions to meet market
needs.”
STATS ChipPAC is one of the leading semiconductor packaging
and test services providers for many leading global customers in the
communication, consumer and computing markets and is ranked fourth in the
world’s packaging market with manufacturing operations in Singapore, South Korea
and China. Its new production facility will use Air Products’ nitrogen for the
manufacture of advanced flip chip, wirebond and 3D packaging solutions.
Toshiba Corporation announced that its board of directors,
has agreed upon a FY2017 investment program for its wholly owned subsidiary,
Toshiba Memory Corporation (TMC), that will channel approximately 180 billion
yen into Fab 6 at Yokkaichi Operations, TMC’s Flash memory facility. The
investment will cover installation of manufacturing facilities in Phase-1 of the
fab, and the construction of Phase-2.
Production at Fab 6 will be entirely devoted to BiCS FLASH™,
Toshiba's innovative 3D Flash memory. As detailed in Toshiba’s February 9, 2017
announcement “Toshiba Starts Construction of Fab 6 and Memory R&D Center at
Yokkaichi, Japan”, Phase-1 of the fab is scheduled for completion in summer
2018, and the current round of investment will ensure this target date is met.
Demand for Flash memory is expected to see continued strong growth from data
centers and enterprise servers, which will accelerate demand for 3D Flash
memories. This understanding guided the board in making the decision.
The investment in Fab 6 will enable TMC to install
manufacturing equipment for 96-layer 3D Flash memories, including deposition and
etching equipment. In parallel with this, construction of Phase-2 of Fab 6 is
scheduled to start in September this year, with a completion target of the end
of 2018. Specific production capabilities and schedules will be aligned with
market demand.
TMC has recently asked SanDisk, its partner in joint
ventures for investment in manufacturing equipment at TMC’s Yokkaichi
Operations, to clarify whether it intends to jointly invest in the Fab 6
facility. If SanDisk does not agree to such joint investment, TMC will invest
alone in manufacturing equipment for separate TMC capacity.
The investment is included in the three year investment
plan of 360 billion yen announced on March 17, 2016 “Notice of Construction of
New Semiconductor Fabrication Facility.”
Advanced Energy Industries, Inc., a global leader in
precision power conversion, announced the grand opening of a service center in
Tachikawa, Japan. The new facility, dedicated to service and repair operations,
expands the company’s global footprint to support semiconductor manufacturing
customers in Japan. The service center allows for Advanced Energy® (AE®) to
engage more directly with customers and respond to growing customer demand for
long-term, high-quality service in the region.
“Our customer relationships are built on trust, and we
always take a highly responsive customer approach,” said Yuval Wasserman,
Advanced Energy president and CEO. “The opening of the Tachikawa service center
has resulted from listening, then improving and simplifying the service
experience with a service and repair center devoted to our semiconductor
customers in Japan.”
Mike McDonald, Advanced Energy vice president of global
services, added, “We are excited to bring our service capabilities closer to our
customers in Japan. We have a broad portfolio of service offerings that will be
more effectively delivered from our new repair center in Tachikawa. Our
industry-leading solutions are quantifiably superior to third-party services,
lowering cost of ownership in semiconductor and related thin-film manufacturing
processes. We’ve made significant investments in fixed assets and infrastructure
and are looking forward to putting these to good use by providing the highest
quality and most responsive lifecycle management products and services
available.”
“We are very
pleased that Advanced Energy’s in-country service center is here to support us,”
said one executive from a large semiconductor equipment maker. “The
presence of a local Advanced Energy repair facility will reduce tool downtime by
providing quicker repair turnaround. This will also enable our organization to
return AE product repairs to AE rather than to less reliable third-party repair
companies.”
The Tachikawa service center follows the opening of a
service center earlier this year in Xi’an, China. The new facilities provide
customers in Asia the high-quality lifecycle services they need, accelerate
repair cycles and streamline the service experience. This latest addition is one
of 14 service centers around the world and one of two local facilities in
Japan—in Ichigaya and now Tachikawa. Many customers rely on AE to stock spares,
provide extended warranties and expedite repairs to keep production moving.
Bosch is to build a wafer fab in Dresden, to satisfy the
demand generated by the growing number of internet of things (IoT) and mobility
applications.
The new facility will manufacture the chips from 12-inch
wafers and construction of the hi-tech plant is to be completed by the end of
2019. Total investment in the location will come to roughly €1 billion.
“The new wafer fab is the biggest single investment in
Bosch’s more than 130-year history,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the
board of management of Robert Bosch.
Bosch has been making semiconductor chips in multiple
variants, for more than 45 years, mostly as application-specific integrated
circuits (ASICs), power semiconductors, and micro-electro-mechanical systems
(MEMS).
“Semiconductors are the core components of all electronic
systems. With connectivity and automation growing, they are being used in more
and more areas of application. By extending our semiconductor manufacturing
capacity, we are giving ourselves a sound basis for the future and strengthening
our competitiveness,” Denner said.
According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the global
semiconductor market is set to grow by more than 5% annually up to 2019, with
the mobility and IoT market segments growing particularly strongly.
The process of manufacturing semiconductor chips always
starts with a silicon disc, known as a wafer. The bigger their diameter, the
more chips that can be made per manufacturing cycle. Compared with conventional
6- and 8-inch wafer fabs, 12-inch wafer technology offers economies of scale.
Subject to the approval of the European Commission, the
Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) plans to support the
construction and commissioning of the new wafer fab in Dresden.
“As an industrial location, the state of Saxony offers
excellent conditions for enhancing our semiconductor expertise,” said Dr. Dirk
Hoheisel, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch.
Dresden’s microelectronics cluster, also known as “Silicon
Saxony,” includes automotive suppliers and service providers, as well as
universities offering technological expertise. In addition, the Digital Hub
Initiative launched by the BMWi aims to make Dresden an IoT ecosystem.
SEMI Europe commended the announcement of a new electronics
manufacturing facility in Dresden, Germany and the supporting public policy to
reinvigorate regional innovation. SEMI Europe, the European regional office of
the global industry association SEMI, engages SEMI members to advance the global
electronics manufacturing supply chain.
“This is an important development with far-reaching
implications for job creation, European investment policy and the global
manufacturing supply chain,” says SEMI Europe president Laith Altimime. “SEMI
Europe and its Regional Advisory Board have long championed public policies to
grow the electronics manufacturing supply chain in Europe. The new Dresden fab
is good news for our members because it strengthens the industry value chain and
connects local innovation with global equipment and materials suppliers.”
Altimime’s comments came in response to Bosch’s
announcement of plans to build a new fab in Dresden for the manufacturing of
sensor microelectronics for automotive applications. The investment of more than
one billion Euro is the largest in company history and the first “green field”
investment in Europe since AMD in Dresden in 1999. The facility is expected to
begin production in 2021 and stimulate the creation of 700 jobs.
The new fab will provide sensors for highly automated,
autonomous vehicles and electric cars. It also strengthens the automotive
sector, the largest value-adding industry in Germany and Europe, as well as
other established sectors including machinery and plant engineering and medical
technology.
Bosch’s investment also strengthens Saxony’s “Smart Systems
─ Infrastructure Hub” with aims to promote three sectors deemed crucial for IoT
development: Hardware, Software and Connectivity.
Laith Altimime emphasizes, “We are happy to see both public
authorities and corporate leaders taking strategic steps to sustain and grow
regional innovation industries. SEMI Europe, the regional electronics ecosystem,
and SEMI members worldwide see the new Dresden fab as a major step forward and
as a catalyst to advance the growth of the semiconductor industry in Europe.”
SEMI Europe promotes the development of the electronics
manufacturing supply chain, the semiconductor and MEMS industry, and builds
collaboration platforms for smart transportation technologies with industry
advocacy, leading industry technology programs, and the SEMICON Europa
exposition. In January 2016, SEMI broadened its supply chain engagement in the
MEMS and sensors segment by leveraging MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) as a
SEMI Strategic Association Partner, to advance MEMS and sensors across global
markets.
Air Products,
a world-leading industrial gases company, announced that it has been awarded the
industrial gases supply for the new memory fab of Fujian Jinhua Integrated
Circuit Co., Ltd. (JHICC). The fab is located in the Fujian (Jinjiang)
Integrated Circuit Industrial Park, Quanzhou City of Fujian Province, which is
developing into a new integrated circuit (IC) industry base with unprecedented
growth opportunities.
Air Products
will build a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient nitrogen plant and leverage its
existing liquid bulk supply capability to supply a broad range of ultra-high
purity gases, including nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, helium and argon, to meet
the needs of JHICC's fab.
"We are
greatly honored to be selected to support this important project in the
development of China's IC industry," said Saw Choon Seong, China president,
Industrial Gases at Air Products. "As a leading industrial gases supplier to the
global electronics industry for over 40 years, Air Products has a proven track
record of supporting many leading global and domestic customers in worldscale
and strategic projects in China and around the world. We will continue to serve
China's electronics manufacturing industry, which is gaining new momentum of
development under the country's 13th Five-Year Plan and 'Made in
China 2025' strategy."
China's IC
industry is developing at a fast pace as driven by a major government initiative
launched in 2014 with billions of dollars of funding to advance its domestic
electronics manufacturing industry. Several industrial clusters have emerged
including Fujian Province.
"We have been
operating in southern China for 30 years and established a strong presence to
serve the electronics and other industries with our safe, reliable and high
quality gases, thanks to the support and trust of the local governments and our
customers. This significant supply contract will further strengthen our market
position in this strategic region," added Jeff Fan, vice president‒southern
China, Industrial Gases at Air Products.
In southern
China, the company has already established a strong and reliable supply network
across the Pearl River Delta, a major electronics manufacturing cluster in the
country, to support the growing demand.
Air Products
has been committed to China's electronics industry and serving many
world-leading and domestic manufacturers in the development of next generation
electronics devices. Last year, the company announced further investment in the
Nanjing Pukou Economic Development Zone
in eastern China to serve the increasing gas demand from the IC and other
industries. It has also been
supplying the advanced memory fabs in Xi'an
since 2014.
McIlvaine Company
Northfield, IL 60093-2743
Tel:
847-784-0012; Fax:
847-784-0061
E-mail:
editor@mcilvainecompany.com
Web site:
www.mcilvainecompany.com