SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
January 2018
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EVG Completes Latest Phase of Production Capacity Expansion
Samsung’s Semiconductor Business Braces for Fiercer Competition In 2018
Epileds Poised to Start Production at New Plant
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EVG
Completes Latest Phase of Production Capacity Expansion
EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the
MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, announced that it has completed
construction and opened a new building at its corporate headquarters in Austria
to expand capacity for producing its industry-leading process equipment. The
building, part of an investment of more than 20 million Euros that was announced
earlier this year, allows for a significant expansion of warehouse space and
provides more than 50 percent additional test room space for the final assembly
of EVG’s high-precision systems, as well as technical source inspection of the
systems by its customers.
“EVG operates in highly dynamic markets, where we always strive to provide our
customers with the latest technologies to realize their product ideas with the
shortest possible time to market–true to EVG’s Triple-i philosophy of
invent-innovate-implement,” stated Dr. Werner Thallner, executive operations and
financial director at EV Group. “Our headquarters expansion helps ensure that we
continue to deliver on this pledge to our customers. I’m pleased to say that we
completed this expansion in record time too, and we already have plans for
additional capacity expansion in preparation for future growth.”
The completed building at EV Group’s headquarters is part of an investment of
more than 20 million Euros to expand the company’s production capacity.
The new test rooms, which are designed to house larger systems including
high-volume manufacturing platforms and solutions for panel-sized substrates,
are equipped with the latest air conditioning and cleanroom technology. The
ambient conditions created through these measures are similar to those found in
the semiconductor fabs or bio-medical labs of EVG’s global customers. The
sophisticated security concept at EVG’s headquarters, which extends to the new
building complex, enables customers to have controlled access to individual test
rooms where the technical source inspection of their tools can take place
together with EVG specialists.
Several EVG systems have already been moved to the new facility for final
assembly, software installation and initial set-up in order to make more room
available for fulfilling additional system orders.
Samsung’s Semiconductor Business Braces for Fiercer Competition In 2018
Kim Ki-nam, chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor
business, is bracing for fiercer competition in the global market for chips this
year -- a critical time for the industry’s growth. Cautiously forecasting the
chip industry for the next 12 months, Kim said in a short New Year’s message to
local media that the industry is in a grave situation, hinting at difficulties
in innovating technologies and concerns about a looming oversupply. “Amid an
unprecedented boom, the semiconductor industry is facing a stark reality,” Kim
said. “Due to rapidly changing technologies, it is very difficult to predict how
the industry landscape will change.” Market researchers project that the global
chip market will continue thriving this year, but the growth pace is expected to
slow compared to last year.
According to data, the world DRAM market expanded by 72 percent to $72.2 billion
in 2017 from a year earlier, but it is estimated to be $84.4 billion this year,
a 16.9 percent growth from last year.
Samsung’s biggest profit source is dynamic random access memory.
Predicting tightness in supply and demand of DRAM chips due to rising demand
from data center businesses, Samsung is currently expanding its DRAM production
by building a new fabrication line on the second floor of the cleanroom in its
newest plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
The new facility’s capacity is expected to be 60,000 wafers, about one-sixth of
the company’s total DRAM production capacity, according to the industry. When
the expansion plan was released in November, DRAM prices temporarily nosedived
21.4 percent in one week, due to oversupply worries.
“We will make ceaseless efforts to innovate technologies and take challenges in
order to keep the position of the world’s top chipmaker,” Kim said.
Samsung plans to seek innovation in its flagship 3-D NAND flash memory by
allocating 60 percent of its annual investment amount for NAND, according to the
company’s conference call on its third quarter earnings. However, the NAND
market is also predicted to see slower growth this year. The market grew 46.2
percent to $53.8 billion last year, while it is forecast to expand 10 percent to
reach $59.2 billion this year. Industry observers say Samsung’s investment plan
for this year might reshape the market by affecting supply and demand
significantly.
“The NAND market has already started slowing down, while the DRAM market is
likely to be influenced by Samsung’s further investment,” said Song Myung-seob,
an analyst. “Investors will need to pay more attention to the company’s upcoming
investment announcement for this year.”
According to another market researcher, Samsung invested a total of $26 billion
last year, accounting for over 20 percent of total investments by global
chipmakers.
The institute estimated Samsung spent $14 billion on building facilities for 3-D NAND, while investing $7 billion and $5 billion in DRAM and foundry respectively.
Epileds
Poised to Start Production at New Plant
LED epitaxial wafer and chip maker Epileds Technologies is relocating production
from a rented plant to another of its own in the Southern Taiwan Science Park,
according to Chinese-language newspaper Economic Daily News. It is
installing equipment at the new facility and the production lines there will
gradually come into operation in first-half 2018.
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