SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
May 2019
McIlvaine Company
TowerJazz Signing Agreement with Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions
TowerJazz Signing Agreement with Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions
Panasonic will continue to utilize TPSCo
three manufacturing facilities in Japan; TowerJazz to further ramp its leading
technology solutions and foundry business.
TowerJazz, the global specialty foundry
leader, and TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Company (TPSCo), announced they
have signed a three-year agreement, extending its previous business partnership
with Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions (PSCS) through 2022. Under the agreement,
PSCS will continue to utilize TPSCo three manufacturing facilities in Japan for
its semiconductor business. Wafer loading level from PSCS to TPSCo fabs is
expected to remain similar, with a new pricing structure, resulting in revenue
reductions of approximately 20 million USD per quarter, with revenue and margins
targeted to be compensated through presently implemented efficiencies and cost
reduction activities, as well as third party revenue growth, including the
present strong 300mm utilization ramp.
Russell Ellwanger, TowerJazz CEO and TPSCo
Chairman commented, “The TPSCo partnership has brought together two leaders -
Panasonic, an acknowledged analog components and systems leader, and TowerJazz,
a recognized analog foundry leader- having created a company that serves and
continues to grow the analog foundry space as no other existing single foundry
can. During the past five years, we have continued to grow in respect for the
technical capability and appreciation for the business acumen and can-do
attitude of our Panasonic partner. Our TPSCo employee base has strong technical
expertise and pristine operational execution, with over 180 foundry customers
have been introduced into TPSCo, which is presently realizing a strong ramp in
300mm state of the art RF, power management and CMOS imaging flows. This has
been and continues to be a winning equation for all involved - TowerJazz, PSCS,
TPSCo and our very important customers.”
Through TPSCo, TowerJazz offers its customers
advanced 300mm analog technology manufacturing platforms such as
state-of-the-art 65nm CMOS image sensor solutions, RF SOI 65nm, and 65nm
Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) power management platform.
TowerJazz to maintain its 51% holding of
TPSCo shares, with PSCS as a 49% shareholder.
About TowerJazzTower Semiconductor Ltd.
(NASDAQ: TSEM, TASE: TSEM) and its subsidiaries operate collectively under the
brand name TowerJazz, the global specialty foundry leader. TowerJazz
manufactures next-generation integrated circuits (ICs) in growing markets such
as consumer, industrial, automotive, medical and aerospace and defense.
TowerJazz’s advanced technology is comprised of a broad range of customizable
process platforms such as: SiGe, BiCMOS, mixed-signal/CMOS, RF CMOS, CMOS image
sensor, integrated power management (BCD and 700V), and MEMS. TowerJazz also
provides world-class design enablement for a quick and accurate design cycle as
well as Transfer Optimization and development Process Services (TOPS) to IDMs
and fabless companies that need to expand capacity. To provide multi-fab
sourcing and extended capacity for its customers, TowerJazz operates two
manufacturing facilities in Israel (150mm and 200mm), two in the U.S. (200mm)
and three facilities in Japan (two 200mm and one 300mm). For more information,
please visit www.towerjazz.com.
About TPSCo is a company, 51% owned by Tower
Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ: TSEM, TASE: TSEM) and 49% owned by Panasonic
Semiconductor Solutions. TPSCo has three manufacturing facilities in Hokuriku,
Japan which have been producing large scale integrated circuits for over 35
years. More than 750 million ICs for automotive products (Grade 0, 1 & 2) have
been produced by TPSCo fabs since inception. Areas of process technology focus
include high dynamic range image sensors (CIS and CCD), integrated power devices
(BCD, SOI, and LDMOS) and high-frequency silicon RFCMOS. With over 150 qualified
silicon process flows on 200mm and 300mm wafers from super micron to 45nm as
well as internal back end processing, assembly and test services, TPSCo provides
both IDMs and fabless companies with unparalleled semiconductor manufacturing
quality and technology, including in-house turnkey services.
Investment
Announced By Seagate Technology
Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) today
announced a package of investments totaling approximately £57.4 million centered
on its wafer manufacturing plant at Springtown in Londonderry.
Seagate’s investment of £47.4 million is
being supported by Invest Northern Ireland with an offer of £9.95 million. The
funding will be focused on enabling further research and development in
nanophotonics, cementing Springtown’s position as a leader in world class
technology innovation, and creating 25 highly skilled new jobs.
Dave Mosley, Chief Executive Officer of
Seagate Technology, Noel Lavery, Permanent Secretary at the Department for the
Economy and Jeremy Fitch, Executive Director at Invest Northern Ireland,
celebrated the announcement at the Seagate Springtown site with employees, local
community and business representatives, including Queen’s University Belfast.
According to a recent IDC study sponsored by
Seagate, global data creation will grow from 33 zettabytes in 2018 to 175
zettabytes by 2025, with big data analytics, smart cities and machine learning
technologies driving the need to deliver greater data storage capacity.
“Technology innovation is the cornerstone of
our success and the industry-leading innovation delivered by our facility in
Springtown has been at the heart of our business strategy for the last 25
years,” said Dave Mosley, Chief Executive Officer of Seagate Technology.
“Today’s investment extends a successful, collaborative partnership with Invest
Northern Ireland and will further strengthen our ability to deliver
customer-centric technology leadership for the data-driven future of the global
economy.”
Jeremy Fitch, Executive Director of Business
Solutions, Invest NI said: “Seagate first came to Northern Ireland in 1994,
investing £50 million and creating 500 new jobs. Fast forward 25 years and the
facility now employs 1,400 people and it is estimated that the company has
invested in excess of £1 billion in capital here.
“Supporting the company along the way has
been Invest NI, with every £1 of our support contributing to £4 investment in
the local economy. We are delighted to be able to offer support towards this
latest project which will see 120 highly skilled researchers here at Springtown,
including 25 new recruits, play a major role in the development of
ground-breaking new technology.”
Noel Lavery, Permanent Secretary at the
Department for the Economy, welcomed the investment. He said, “Effective
collaboration between Invest NI and Seagate has once again boosted the North
West and the wider Northern Ireland economy by delivering investment and
well-paid jobs in a sector with a strong future.”
Invest NI’s support is part funded by ERDF
under the EU Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.
Seagate’s Springtown facility is recognized
as one of the foremost 200mm wafer fabrication plants in the world. The site has
grown from an initial charter of world class manufacturing in the first decade
of operations to adding development and product launch capabilities in the last
ten years. The investment announcement is made as Seagate Springtown celebrates
25 years in business. The facility employs over 1,400 staff and continues to
develop leading community and academic partnerships.
Cree to Expand Silicon Carbide Capacity
Advanced manufacturing campus will accelerate
industry transition from silicon to silicon carbide to meet EV and 5G market
demand. Expansion to generate up to a 30-fold increase in SiC wafer fabrication
capacity and 30-fold increase in SiC materials production to meet the expected
market growth by 2024Five-year investment leverages an existing building (“North
Fab”) and refurbished 200mm equipment to build state-of-the-art
automotive-qualified production facility. Investment: $450M for North Fab; $450M
for materials mega factory; and $100M in other investments associated with
growing the business
As part of its long-term growth strategy,
Cree, Inc. CREE, -0.20% announces it will invest up to $1 billion in the
expansion of its silicon carbide capacity with the development of a
state-of-the-art, automated 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility and a
materials mega factory at its U.S. campus headquarters in Durham, N.C. It marks
the company’s largest investment to date in fueling its Wolfspeed silicon
carbide and GaN on silicon carbide business. Upon completion in 2024, the
facilities will substantially increase the company’s silicon carbide materials
capability and wafer fabrication capacity, allowing wide bandgap semiconductor
solutions that enable the dramatic technology shifts underway within the
automotive, communications infrastructure and industrial markets.
“We
continue to see great interest from the automotive and communications
infrastructure sectors to leverage the benefits of silicon carbide to drive
innovation. However, the demand for silicon carbide has long surpassed the
available supply. Today, we are announcing our largest-ever investment in
production to dramatically increase this supply and help customers deliver
transformative products and services to the marketplace,” said Gregg Lowe, CEO
of Cree. “This investment in equipment, infrastructure and our workforce are
capable of increasing our silicon carbide wafer fabrication capacity up to
30-fold and our materials production by up to 30-fold compared to Q1 of fiscal
year 2017, which is when we began the first phase of capacity expansion. We
believe this will allow us to meet the expected growth in Wolfspeed silicon
carbide material and device demand over the next five years and beyond.”
The plan delivers additional capacity for its
industry-leading Wolfspeed silicon carbide business with the build out of an
existing structure as a 253,000 square-foot, 200mm power and RF wafer
fabrication facility as an initial step to serve the projected market demand.
The new North Fab is designed to be fully automotive qualified and will provide
nearly 18 times more surface area for manufacturing than exists today, initially
opening with the production of 150mm wafers. The company will convert its
existing Durham fabrication and materials facility into a materials mega
factory.
“These silicon carbide manufacturing
mega-hubs will accelerate the innovation of today’s fastest growing markets by
producing solutions that help extend the range and reduce the charge times for
electric vehicles, as well as support the rollout of 5G networks around the
world,” said Lowe. “We believe that this represents the largest capital
investment in the history of silicon carbide and GaN technologies and production
with a fiscally responsible approach. By using existing facilities and
installing a majority of refurbished tools, we believe we will be able to
deliver a state-of-the-art 200mm capable fab at approximately one-third of the
cost of a new fab.”
The expanded campus also creates high-tech
job opportunities and will serve as an advanced manufacturing workforce
development initiative. Cree plans to partner with state and local community and
four-year colleges to develop training programs to prepare its workforce for the
long-term, high-quality employment and growth opportunities the new facilities
will present.
Also, as part of its long-term growth
strategy, Cree, Inc. announced it will invest up to $1 billion in the expansion
of its silicon carbide capacity with the development of a state-of-the-art,
automated 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility and a materials mega
factory at its U.S. campus headquarters in Durham, N.C. It marks the company’s
largest investment to date in fueling its Wolfspeed silicon carbide and GaN on
silicon carbide business. Upon completion in 2024, the facilities will
substantially increase the company’s silicon carbide materials capability and
wafer fabrication capacity, allowing wide bandgap semiconductor solutions that
enable the dramatic technology shifts underway within the automotive,
communications infrastructure and industrial markets.
About Cree, Inc. :
Cree is an innovator of Wolfspeed [®] power
and radio frequency (RF) semiconductors, lighting class LEDs and lighting
products. Cree’s Wolfspeed product families include silicon carbide materials,
power-switching devices and RF devices targeted for applications such as
electric vehicles, fast charging, inverters, power supplies, telecom and
military and aerospace. Cree’s LED product families include blue and green LED
chips, high-brightness LEDs and lighting-class power LEDs targeted for indoor
and outdoor lighting, video displays, transportation and specialty lighting
applications. Cree’s LED lighting systems and lamps serve indoor and outdoor
applications.
Hi-Tech New York Facility Gets New Resident
NexGen Power Systems has pledged $40 million
to bring the facility to the required state, updating cleanroom space by making
it cleaner and reworking its cold-water system
A hi-tech factory in DeWitt, NY, has spent
many years in limbo, but now new residents are finally all moved in and raring
to go. With only minimal adjustments to the cleanroom facilities, the building
looks set to begin production soon.
According to Syracuse.com, the US$90 million
facility was built by the taxpayers through SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Fort
Schuyler Management Corp, with the plan already in place to hire it out to
startup LED-producer, Soraa.
This all fell through when Soraa pulled out
halfway through construction in 2017. Adding fuel to the fire was the SUNY
Polytechnic Institute’s corruption scandal, which caused the building to change
hands, falling to Empire State Development.
Thankfully, in December 2017, the building
was officially leased by California-based startup, NexGen Power Systems. The
company CEO, Dinesh Ramanathan, said that the building was well suited to its
needs as it was designed with the production of gallium nitride in mind. NexGen
aims to use the same material but in the production of semiconductors, therefore
required little adjustment to make it work for its needs.
In January 2018, NexGen pledged to spend $40m
on the facility.
"There are some minor improvements that need
to be made, but otherwise it's almost perfect," Ramanathan enthused.
These minor improvements consisted of making
its 40 foot-high cleanroom space cleaner and reworking the cold-water system to
eliminate the possibility of iron corroding the sensitive equipment.
The building owners have given its new
tenants a grant of up to $15m for tools and equipment, $7.5m of which has been
used so far. Officials have said that the grant is contingent on NexGen
achieving the hiring commitments it has made of 577 jobs in 10 years. The
semiconductor producers have also raised $25m in funds from Swiss-based Acal.
As of right now, NexGen has moved in
manufacturing equipment at the 82,200 sq. ft. facility and is in the process of
hiring. According to company tax records, the jobs will pay from $51,000 for
fabrication technicians to $155,000 for research and development personnel.
Ramanathan said it will take about a year to
ramp up to full production, providing transistor samples by early 2020, and full
production by Q3 2020.
The CEO has been a part of the industry
before, leading the failed power converted company, Avology. The bad experience
does not seem to have discouraged him though, saying that NexGen has a better
business plan in place.
McIlvaine Company
Northfield, IL 60093-2743
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