Silicon wafer shipments down in 2011, says SEMI

Feb 10, 15:15

Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments decreased about 3% in 2011 compared to 2010 area shipments, according to SEMI. However, revenues grew 2% on year, said SEMI.

Chipbond sales to rise 5% in 1Q12, says paper

Newswatch - Feb 10, 14:21

LCD driver IC packaging and testing specialist Chipbond Technology is expected to see its consolidated revenues increase as much as 5% sequentially in the first quarter of 2012, beating the company's guidance of flat growth, the Chinese-language Commercial Times cited market watchers as saying...

TSMC January sales up 11%, UMC down

Feb 10, 14:18

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) registered a 10.6% sequential increase in consolidated revenues in January 2012. Fellow company United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), however, reported a 0.7% decrease in January revenues from the previous month.

PTI 1Q12 sales to drop up to 10%, says chairman

Feb 10, 01:30

Memory packaging and testing specialist Powertech Technology (PTI) now expects its sales to decrease up to 10% sequentially in the first quarter of 2012, company chairman DK Tsai said during a February 9 investors conference. Tsai previously estimated a larger 10-15% decline.

ASE, SPIL post sales drops in January

Feb 9, 01:40

IC packagers Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Silicon Precision Industries (SPIL) have reported decreases in January 2012 consolidated revenues from the previous month of 9.3% and 4.2%, respectively.

Elpida dismisses reports it plans to sell Hiroshima plant

Feb 9, 01:00

Elpida Memory has dismissed a Nikkei report that the Japan-based memory chipmaker is looking to sell its plant in Hiroshima.

Winbond, Macronix post drops in January sales

Feb 8, 11:36

Winbond Electronics and Macronix International have both reported decreases in January 2012 revenues from the previous month.

Fairchild, Infineon expand partnership

Feb 8, 10:12

Fairchild Semiconductor and Infineon Technologies have announced the extension of their compatibility partnership to encompass Fairchild's 5x6mm power stage asymmetric dual MOSFET package.

Samsung cuts LTE chip cost by half, ABI Research teardown reveals

Feb 7, 14:46

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus made a big impact on the market in December 2011, thanks to its sleek design, new Android OS (Ice Cream Sandwich) and NFC capability. The smartphone has another notable hidden feature that makes it more cost-competitive.

Semiconductor industry posts record-breaking revenues in 2011, says SIA

Feb 7, 14:16

Worldwide semiconductor sales for 2011 reached a record US$299.5 billion, up 0.4% from US$298.3 billion in 2010, according to SIA.

Test Research January sales up 109%

Feb 7, 11:50

Test Research (TRI), which specializes in testing equipment for PCBs, saw its consolidated sales soar 109% sequentially to NT$374 million (US$12.6 million) in January 2012. The company attributed the significant growth to shipments with short lead time requirements.

Topco expects flat growth in 1Q12 sales

Feb 6, 15:23

Topco Scientific, which distributes semiconductor materials and equipment, has said it is cautious about the business outlook for the first quarter of 2012, citing the uncertain macroeconomic environment. The company expects its revenues for the quarter to post flat growth on year, in a best-case sc...

Intel promotes two executives to senior vice president

Feb 3, 14:28

Intel has announced that its board of directors has promoted Mooly Eden and Richard Taylor to the position of senior vice president.

Chip demand picking up, say Taiwan IC designers

Feb 3, 13:59

Taiwan-based fabless IC firms have recently landed an influx of short lead-time orders from clients that had been keeping inventory lean due to the uncertain market outlook, according to industry sources.

Sumco to close plants, cut workforce

Feb 3, 01:15

Japan-based Sumco, the world's second-largest supplier of wafers used to produce semiconductors and solar cells, has unveiled measures to realign its manufacturing operations for a better cost structure to cope with falling demand due to a more challenging market environment, and continued appreciation...

Taiwan analog IC firms gearing up for switch to 8-inch wafers

Feb 3, 01:10

Taiwan-based fabless analog IC firms are all expected to carry out their transition to 8-inch wafers in 2012, according to industry sources. The move will help improve their cost structures and narrow the gap with their larger peers such as Texas Instruments (TI), which now makes products using 12-inch...

Innostor breaks into supply chain of Lenovo with USB 3.0 device controllers

Feb 2, 15:49

Innostor Technology has cut into the supply chain of Lenovo with its USB 3.0 flash drive controllers, according to industry sources, adding that shipments will start in March.

Wireless displaces PC as top semiconductor spending area for OEMs in 2011, says IHS

Feb 2, 11:20

Propelled by the red-hot appeal of items like Apple's iPhone and iPad, the wireless communications sphere surpassed computers to lead all segments in semiconductor-related spending among the world's leading OEMs in 2011, according to IHS iSuppli.

STATS ChipPAC to shut Thailand plant

Feb 1, 14:34

STATS ChipPAC has announced that the company will not resume assembly operations in its Thailand plant due to extensive equipment and facility damage beyond economic restoration. The plant is situated in the Navanakorn Industrial Estate, Pathum Thani, which was suspended due to the flooding in Thailand...

Semiconductor industry revenues to endure slow growth in 2012, IHS says

Feb 1, 10:51

With global economic prospects remaining uncertain and semiconductor inventory not moving quickly enough to stimulate new production, the worldwide chip market is expected to suffer a slow year in 2012 marked by sluggish growth, according to IHS iSuppli.

Japan fab tool book-to-bill climbs above parity

Jan 31, 15:10

Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.20 in December 2011, above parity for the first time in 10 months, according to figures from the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

Samsung posts record profit in 4Q11

Jan 30, 14:10

Booming smartphone sales made Samsung Electronics' latest quarter its most profitable quarter ever, according to the company.

Samsung to boost spending for logic ICs, says IC Insights

Jan 30, 10:52

Approximately US$6.5 billion of Samsung Electronics' 2012 capex budget is dedicated to logic ICs, according to IC Insights. The remaining US$5.7 billion of Samsung's capex budget will be applied to the production of memory ICs, with a good portion of the funding likely to be used to boost capacity...

SEMI book-to-bill ratio grows three months in a row

Jan 30, 10:25

North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 0.88 for December 2011, up for the third consecutive month, according to SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.88 means that US$88 worth of orders were received for every US$100 of product billed for the month.

Taiwan December manufacturing production index up slightly

Jan 20, 16:53

Taiwan recorded a manufacturing production index (2006 as base year) of 127.25 for December 2011, increasing 0.34% on month but decreasing 8.67% on year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on January 20.

Taiwan December export order value down slightly

Jan 20, 16:42

Taiwan received export orders worth US$36.31 billion in December 2011, decreasing 0.94% on month and 0.72% on year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on January 20.

Intel reports record US$54 billion in annual revenues

Jan 20, 12:10

Intel has reported full-year revenues of US$54 billion, operating income of US$17.5 billion, net income of US$12.9 billion and EPS of US$2.39, all company records. The company generated approximately US$21 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of US$4.1 billion and used US$14.1 billion to...

KLA-Tencor intros flagship wafer inspection solution suite

Jan 20, 10:16

KLA-Tencor has announced three new wafer defect inspection systems for leading-edge chip manufacturers: the 2900, Puma 9650 and eS800 systems. Designed to address a wide range of defect issues that new materials, structures and design rules have imposed on manufacturers of advanced chips, the trio...

Packaging and testing firms to post 5-10% drop in 1Q12

Jan 20, 01:05

Revenues at semiconductor packaging and testing houses will likely register a 5-10% sequential decrease in the first quarter of 2012, affected by fewer working days, according to industry observers.

Chang Wah seeing orders for driver IC-use packaging materials surge

Jan 19, 17:00

Chang Wah Electromaterials, which distributes packaging materials and equipment for the semiconductor and LCD industries, expects orders for COF (chip-on-film) packaging materials to increase 20% sequentially in the first quarter of 2012 bucking seasonal patterns, according to company chairman Chia-neng...

Apple becomes largest consumer of MEMS microphones in 2011, says IHS

Jan 19, 16:47

Apple surpassed Samsung Electronics to become the world's largest purchaser of MEMS microphones in 2011, according to IHS iSuppli.

TSMC reports EPS of NT$5.18 for 2011

Jan 18, 16:22

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has reported NT$134.2 billion (US$4.58 billion) in net profits for 2011, down 17.1% on year but staying at a high level as compared to 2009 and before. EPS came to NT$5.18.

Lite-On Semi to step into MOSFET production

Jan 18, 13:44

Lite-On Semiconductor will start to ship its in-house produced MOSFETs in the second quarter of 2012, according to the company, adding that the new product line is expected to help grow production utilization at its 6-inch wafer fab.

Taiwan IC testing houses to post single-digit sales drop in 1Q12

Jan 17, 01:05

Taiwan-based IC testing specialists including King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) and Ardentec are likely to see their first-quarter revenues decrease 5-10% sequentially affected by clients' cautious attitude toward placing orders and ongoing inventory adjustments, according to industry sources.

Wintel tablet PCs may be priced from US$599-899

Jan 16, 16:36

Wintel-based tablet PCs may see their prices go as high as US$599-899 due to Intel and Microsoft both being unwilling to drop their related hardware and software quotes, and as a result, it could push consumers from wanting to purchase the devices, according to sources from notebook vendors.

Central Taiwan Science Park posts 2011 export value of over NT$189 billion

Jan 16, 15:35

The Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) recorded total export value of NT$189.184 billion (US$6.10 billion) and total import value of NT$123.096 billion in 2011, according to CTSP administration.

Taiwan takes lead in wafer capacity in 2011, says IC Insights

Jan 16, 10:19

Taiwan captured the distinction of being the country/region with the largest share of installed wafer capacity in 2011, according to IC Insights.

Lumax indicates clear order visibility

Jan 12, 16:37

Semiconductor process control service supplier Lumax International has indicated orders from China have been healthy with visibility extended to the third quarter of 2012. The firm expects sales to register growth in 2012.

Low demand will likely continue in 1Q12, says Lite-On Semiconductor executive

Jan 12, 01:20

Eric Kuo, general manager of Taiwan-based Lite-On Semiconductor has expressed a conservative view for first-quarter 2012. Kuo noted that inventory levels in the semiconductor market have been high since fourth-quarter 2011, hence the market is likely to clear out inventories in the first quarter. This...

Chip fab spending set to decline in 2012, says SEMI

Jan 11, 15:47

Semiconductor fab equipment spending is expected to decline by approximately 11% in 2012, according to SEMI's preliminary forecast. Spending is projected to drop in the first half of 2012, but will sharply increase in the second half of the year to approach US$10 billion by the fourth quarter.