Solar equipment market suffers oversupply

Dec 21, 12:10

Oversupply in the downstream solar market has been causing the supply of crystal growing furnaces to exceed demand by 100%. In addition, cheap second-hand equipment has been available...

Inspection tool supplier HMI to expand capacity

Dec 13, 22:18

Acknowledging huge demand for electron beam inspection equipment, Hermes Microvision (HMI) has unveiled plans to build a new production factory in Southern Taiwan.

Chip equipment billings slip in 3Q12, says SEMI

Dec 12, 22:12

SEMI has reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached US$9.06 billion in the third quarter of 2012, down 12% sequentially and 15% from a year ago.

Some China-based makers plan to sell solar cell equipment in Taiwan

Dec 12, 12:00

China-based integrated solar makers have considered measures to cope with the impact of US anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs, and some of them plan to sell solar cell production...

Semiconductor equipment sales to drop over 10% in 2012, says SEMI

Dec 6, 20:41

Global sales for semiconductor equipment are forecast to contract 12.2% to US$38.2 billion in 2012, according to SEMI. Sales went up 9% in 2011, following a larger 151% increase in...

Mirle in talks to ink supply contracts with China-based panel makers

Dec 4, 14:26

Mirle Automation reportedly is accelerating its talks with two major China-based panel makers in order to ink TFT LCD equipment supply contracts for 2013. The equipment maker is also...

Mobile communications equipment market set for double-digit growth in 2012, says IHS

Nov 29, 14:09

The market for mobile communications equipment will grow 13% in 2012, propelled by climbing shipments of mobile handsets and tablets, particularly devices supporting the 4G LTE wireless...

Powerchip may sell 12-inch fab equipment and land separately

Nov 28, 21:31

Powerchip Technology may tear down its P3 12-inch fab and sell the production equipment and land separately if it cannot liquidate the plant in one lot. Potential buyers including...

Advantest introduces T2000 IMS testing equipment in Taiwan

Nov 14, 21:23

Advantest, a Japan-based provider of IC testing total solutions, on November 14 introduced the T2000 IMS (integrated massive parallel test solution), designed to achieve lowest-cost...

Flat panel display equipment market expected to recover substantially in 2013, says DisplaySearch

Nov 2, 12:29

Flat panel display (FPD) manufacturing equipment spending fell 69% on year in 2012 to US$3.8 billion, making 2012 the weakest year in history for FPD equipment makers. Despite the...

Semiconductor equipment maker Gudeng to post another record sales quarter

Nov 1, 14:45

Revenues at IC front-end tool supplier Gudeng Precision Industrial are likely to register another sequential increase in the fourth quarter of 2012, after climbing to record high...

FPCB makers increase equipment purchases

Oct 25, 15:51

Flexible PCB makers, including Zhen Ding Technology Holding and Career Technology, have been increasing their orders for UV laser drilling machines and dispensers due to strong demand...

PCB testing equipment suppliers TRI, Machvision post mixed results for January-September period

Oct 25, 15:21

PCB testing equipment vendor Test Research (TRI) saw its consolidated revenues increase 34.7% on year to NT$4.56 billion (US$155.48 million) for the first nine months of 2012, while...

Equipment maker Mirle 3Q12 sales dip

Oct 24, 12:02

Mirle Automation has announced that consolidated revenues for the third quarter of 2012 slipped 1.1% sequentially to NT$1.32 billion (US$45 million). Accumulated revenues for January-September...

Epson showcases business-use printing equipment at 2012 TIGAX

Oct 19, 16:42

Seiko Epson is exhibiting five models of business-use printing equipment at the 2012 Taipei International Graphic Arts Exhibition (TIGAX) taking place during October 18-21, according...

PCB maker Apex to increase investment in Thailand

Oct 19, 12:19

PCB manufacturer Apex Circuit International plans to increase total investment in its new plant in Thailand by 25% to THB5 billion (US$163.2 million), with the additional capex to...

Inspection tool supplier HMI seeing clear order visibility

Oct 18, 21:23

Taiwan-based Hermes Microvision (HMI) has seen its order visibility extend to the first quarter of 2013, according to industry sources. The transition to more advanced manufacturing...

Wafer fab equipment spending to decline 13.3% in 2012, says Gartner

Oct 2, 15:56

Global wafer fab equipment spending is on pace to total US$31.4 billion in 2012, a decline of 13.3% from 2011 spending of US$36.2 billion, according to Gartner. The research firm...

STATS ChipPAC receives compensation for damage caused by Thai flooding

Oct 2, 01:20

STATS ChipPAC has reached a property damage insurance settlement of US$26.7 million with its insurers as compensation for its plant and equipment damaged by flooding in Thailand.

Digitimes Research: China-based Elec-Tech ramping up LED chip capacity

Sep 27, 14:20

China-based Elec-Tech's LED revenues have been increasig, with the business segement's contribution reaching around 32% of total revenues in first-half 2012. A further breakdown shows...

Taiwan government to offer NT$10 billion loans to support green-energy industry

Sep 25, 12:21

Taiwan government's National Development Fund (NDF) will offer 15-year loans totaling NT$10 billion (US$338 million) to finance exports of green-energy products, including solar,...

North America IC equipment industry book-to-bill ratio hits 9-month low, says SEMI

Sep 25, 10:43

The book-to-bill ratio of North American semiconductor equipment makers slid to 0.84 for August 2012, hitting the lowest level since November 2011, according to data compiled by SE...

Mag.Layers expected to post slight growth in 3Q12 sales

Sep 21, 15:49

Inductor and power choke manufacturer Mag.Layers Scientific-Technics is expected to post a slight sequential growth in sales in the third quarter of 2012, thanks to seasonality in...

Scientech sees increasing 1H12 gross margin due to sales growth of in-house produced equipment

Sep 21, 10:32

Equipment maker Scientech noted that the firm's share in high-end LED wet bench processes has exceeded 50%. The firm expects the LED market to continue expanding. Scientech's new...

MOCVD equipment price falling

Sep 17, 10:50

The upstream LED chip market has been in oversupply causing the price of MOCVD equipment to drop 30-40% compared to the price two years ago.

Laser Tek to post profit growth on rising sales of high-margin products

Sep 14, 16:18

Laser Tek, a supplier of passive component materials and production equipment, is expected to report revenue growth of 15-20% sequentially for the third quarter of 2012. Rising sales...

Taiwan solar firms reportedly plan to move equipment back from China

Sep 13, 01:35

China-based solar firms are currently facing anti-dumping investigations in the EU. Many Taiwan-based firms that have set up plants in China are also included as targets of the investigation...

Digitimes Research: Demand for MOCVD equipment in China to account for 68% of total global demand in 2012

Sep 7, 13:58

Digitimes Research predicts Asia-based firms will take up 90% of market demand for MOCVD equipment in 2012, an increase of 10 basis points compared to 2011. In particular, equipment...

Front-end fab equipment spending to grow 17% in 2013, says SEMI

Sep 6, 11:38

Total fab spending for equipment needed to ramp fabs, upgrade technology nodes, and expand or change wafer size could increase 16.7% in 2013 to reach a new record high of US$42.7...

Wafer foundry houses to drive semiconductor equipment demand in 2H12

Sep 6, 01:35

Demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment in the second half of 2012 will come mainly from the needs of wafer foundry houses to push advanced manufacturing processes into commercial...

Csun to start shipping new equipment for LED manufacturing in 4Q12

Aug 30, 01:30

Csun Manufacturing is scheduled to start shipping its new turnkey equipment for the manufacture of patterned sapphire substrates (PSS) in the fourth quarter of 2012 and expects overall...

Equipment maker GPM eyeing return to profits

Aug 24, 14:27

Taiwan-based Gallant Precision Machining (GPM), which mainly makes equipment for the manufacture of display panels as well as semiconductors, expects to return to profitability in...

PCB equipment maker CBT expects sales growth to continue in 3Q12

Aug 21, 14:40

Chime Ball Technology (CBT), a Taiwan-based supplier of automatic exposure machines and other equipment for the manufacture of PCBs, saw its revenues grow 57.5% sequentially in the...

Laser Tek sales to peak in 3Q12

Aug 21, 01:55

Laser Tek, a supplier of passive component materials and production equipment, is expected to see its quarterly sales climb to the highest level of 2012 in the third quarter, according...