Formosa Sumco gearing up for capacity expansion

Apr 15, 01:25

Formosa Sumco Technology (FST) has revealed plans to expand its capacity for 12-inch silicon wafers to 300,000 units a month from the present 180,000. New capacity is scheduled to...

SAS details spin-off plans

Apr 15, 01:10

Taiwan-based wafer maker Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS) on April 14 announced that it will spin off its semiconductor wafers and sapphire wafers/substrates business units as...

SAS to spin off semiconductor wafer and sapphire substrate businesses

Apr 14, 16:11

Taiwan-based Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS) on April 14 announced plans to create two independent companies by spinning off its semiconductor wafer and LED sapphire substrate...

Korea, Taiwan chipmakers turn to local wafer producers for support

Apr 14, 12:15

Korea- and Taiwan-based foundry houses and memory-IC manufacturers have obtained support from their local producers of blank silicon wafers as failure of supplies from Japan still...

PV wafer quotes slacken

Apr 8, 15:34

Faced with sluggish demand in the Europe market, solar-cell clients plan to cut their output and demanded price cuts. The trend seems to have started affecting the quotes for upstream...

LED chipmaker Tekcore to set up epitaxial wafer plant in Nanjing, says paper

Newswatch - Apr 1, 12:15

Taiwan-based LED chipmaker Tekcore has signed an agreement with the Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone to set up an epitaxial wafer plant in Nanjing, China, according...

SAS, OCI ink supply agreement

Apr 1, 01:15

Solar wafer supplier Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS) on March 31 announced that it has signed a polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) supply agreement with South Korea's OCI. The...

Taiwan DRAM makers see supply constraints after July

Mar 25, 01:50

Taiwan-based DRAM chipmakers have notified their PC clients to be prepared for a possible 50% reduction in their output after July, due to issues relating to upstream material supplies,...

Silicon wafer and NAND flash supply could determine smartphone and tablet PC markets in 2011

Mar 23, 12:05

A cloud is looming over the semiconductor industry due to a possible supply shortage of silicon wafers, and the market for popular consumer electronics products such as tablet PCs...

Solar companies aggressive in locking up poly-Si supply contracts

Mar 23, 01:25

Due to aggressive capacity expansion by solar wafer and cell makers, companies are more active in signing long-term polycrystalline silicon supply agreements, according to industry...

Macronix holds sufficient wafer inventory

Mar 21, 14:19

Macronix International currently has two to three months worth of wafer inventory, which is sufficient enough to fulfill orders over the short term, according to company chairman...

Nanya says no supply fears

Mar 18, 01:10

There is growing concern that upstream materials and wafer supplies could be limited in the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan. Nanya Technology, however, does not anticipate any...

PC supply chain still has up to 3 months of inventory, says Acer Taiwan president

Mar 17, 01:10

Acer Taiwan president Scott Lin has pointed out that the PC industry's upstream supply chain still has an inventory level of about 2.5-3 months, and therefore will only see limited...

DRAM makers hold 1-2 months of wafer inventory

Mar 16, 15:39

DRAM chipmakers currently have one to two months of wafer inventory, industry sources estimate, adding that there should be no interruptions in their supplies between March and April...

Solar wafer maker Danen inks 7-year poly-Si supply agreement with OCI

Mar 16, 01:25

Solar wafer maker Danen Technology on March 15 announced that it has signed a seven-year polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) supply agreement with South Korea's OCI. The contract will...

Supply of polysilicon facing shortage as Japan implements power brownout

Mar 15, 11:47

With the Japan government implementing power brownout policy on March 14, Japan-based polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) and silicon wafer makers may be forced to stop their production...

Digitimes Insight: SEH plant suspension may hit global wafer supply chain

Mar 14, 15:52

While the massive tremor that ravaged the northeastern part of Japan did not cause damage to Japan's major production sites for DRAM and flash memory products, it may disrupt the...

Foundries brace for impact of wafer shortage

Mar 14, 11:25

With the impact of Japan's massive earthquake disrupting production at silicon wafer supplier Shin-Etsu Handotai (SEH), major pure-play foundry chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing...

Wafer Works Optronics see revenues more than double in February 2011

Mar 10, 11:39

Wafer Works Optronics, a sapphire substrate subsidiary of silicon wafer maker Wafer Works, saw its revenues surge 123% sequentially to a record high of NT$73.1 million (US$2.5 million...

DelSolar nets EPS of NT$1.74 in 2010

Mar 10, 01:45

Solar cell maker DelSolar has posted net profits of NT$435 million (US$14.8 million), or NT$1.74 a share, on consolidated revenues of NT$11.56 billion for 2010. The earnings translated...

6-inch solar wafer spot price approaches US$3.80 in March

Mar 9, 01:25

Spot pricing for 6-inch solar wafers is approaching US$3.80/unit in March 2011, which could inflict more cost pressure on solar cell makers. For cell manufacturers with less leverage...

Gintech breaks ground for solar wafer plant

Mar 7, 16:44

Solar cell maker Gintech Energy on March 7 broke ground for its solar wafer plant in Miaoli, Taiwan. The plant is under Gintech's solar wafer subsidiary, which also include Taiwan...

Only 10 participants in 300mm wafer capacity space, says IC Insights

Mar 7, 10:57

Semiconductor industry capital spending is becoming more concentrated, with a greater percentage of spending coming from a shrinking number of companies, according to IC Insights...

Chipbond, KYEC team up for power IC packaging and testing

Mar 3, 01:05

LCD driver-IC packaging and testing firm Chipbond Technology and King Yuan Electronics (KYEC), which specializes in chip probing and final test services, have signed a memorandum...

Motech signs contract with GCL-Poly for wafer supply

Stockwatch - Feb 25, 01:00

Solar cell maker Motech Industries has signed a contract with China-based GCL-Poly Energy Holdings for a 5-year supply of solar wafers worth a total of about US$1.026 billion, according...

Solar wafer spot price to rise above US$3.5 in March

Feb 22, 02:00

Due to continual tight supply, both contract and spot quotes for solar wafers will increase in March. Spot wafer pricing will likely rise to US$3.7-3.8 from US$3.5-3.6 currently,...

Sapphire substrate price drop to expand to 15% on quarter in 1Q11

Feb 15, 01:50

Prices of sapphire substrates are expected to drop 10-15% sequentially in the first quarter of 2011, an increase from a previous 5-10% quarterly decrease in 2010, but the decrease...

AUO Crystal sets up solar wafer fab in central Taiwan

Feb 11, 16:18

AU Optronics (AUO) subsidiary AUO Crystal Corp (ACC) will establish a solar wafer plant in Taiwan's Chungkang Export Processing Zone, under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Silicon wafer shipments reach record levels in 2010, says SEMI

Feb 10, 10:44

Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments in 2010 increased 40% from 2009, while revenues grew by 45% over the same period, according to SEMI.

IC design houses gross margin to contract as wafer foundries look to hike quotes

Feb 9, 11:12

With the rise of raw material costs, Taiwan-based wafer foundries are looking to raise prices, which will put more pressure on IC design houses amid drops in chip pricing in end-use...

VIS projects 40-50% sequential increase in 1Q11 profit

Feb 9, 01:35

Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) expects a 40-50% sequential increase in first quarter profit. Silicon wafer shipments for the first quarter of 2011 will increase 30% sequentially,...

GET sets revenue record for 11 consecutive months

Feb 9, 01:00

Solar wafer maker Green Energy Technology (GET) on February 8 announced revenues of NT$2.067 billion (US$71.473 million) for January 2011, up 0.78% on month and 95.14% on year to...

Macronix ramps up 12-inch capacity ahead of schedule

Jan 26, 12:32

Macronix International has revealed plans to double monthly production at its 12-inch plant to 20,000 wafers in the middle of 2011, six months ahead of schedule. The company noted...

Switch to 8-inch wafers to provide sufficient capacity and inventory flexibility for analog IC design houses

Jan 26, 01:45

With the imminent entry of Texas Instrument's (TI) 12-inch analog IC process, Taiwan-based analog IC design houses have looked to transition to 8-inch wafers since the second half...