UMC holds groundbreaking ceremony for new facilities at 12-inch fab

May 24, 16:26

United Microelectronics (UMC) on May 24 held a groundbreaking ceremony for the fifth and sixth phase (P5 and P6) construction of its 12-inch plant located in southern Taiwan. Equipment move-in for the new facilities is scheduled for the second half of 2013, according to the foundry.

North America fab tool book-to-bill slips in April 2012, says SEMI

May 23, 14:56

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.10 in April 2012, down from 1.12 in March, according to SEMI.

TSMC 3Q12 revenues to grow at a slower pace than expected, say sources

May 23, 14:07

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) may see its revenues grow only at 5% sequentially in the third quarter of 2012 compared to a 10% growth projected earlier due to a decline in book-to-bill ratio, according to industry sources.

Hermes Microvision lists on OTC market

May 22, 14:43

Semiconductor inspection equipment supplier Hermes Microvision (HMI) debuted on Taiwan's over-the-counter (OTC) stock market on May 21 with an initial price of NT$208 (US$7.03) per share. Hermes' share prices ended up 47.36% to close at NT$306.5 on its first trading session.

Packaging and testing firms see mobile DRAM orders rise

May 22, 14:07

Memory packaging and testing specialists including Powertech Technology (PTI) and Walton Advanced Engineering have both enjoyed a ramp-up in orders for mobile DRAM chips recently, according to company sources.

KYEC steps into testing of image sensor ICs

May 22, 12:23

King Yuan Electronics (KYEC), a Taiwan-based provider of IC testing service, has stepped into testing of image sensor ICs, with corresponding revenues expected to account for over 5% of total revenues in 2012, according to industry sources.

Taiwan LED manufacturers to use silicon substrates for producing LED chips

May 22, 01:05

Taiwan LED manufacturers are looking to replace sapphire substrates with silicon substrates to produce LED epitaxial chips, which will help with mass production and lowering costs of the chips as well as lower prices for LED lighting.

Taiwan 1Q12 semiconductor production value down 3.1% sequentially, says IEK

May 21, 16:18

Taiwan's semiconductor industries generated total production value of NT$360.1 billion (US$12.2 billion) in the first quarter of 2012, slipping 3.1% on quarter, according to Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center (IEK) under the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute.

Faraday tapes out 40nm ASICs for 4G LTE base stations, says paper

Newswatch - May 21, 15:33

IC design service provider Faraday Technology has completed the tape-out of ASICs for 4G LTE base stations, utilizing a 40nm process at United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

Intel to launch inexpensive ULV processors in 3Q12 to facilitate US$699 ultrabooks

May 18, 01:15

Intel will launch four entry-level Celeron processors including the Celeron ULV 877 and 807 for sale at US$86 and US$70 respectively and targeting ultrabooks in the third quarter of 2012. The CPUs could enable vendors to offer ultrabooks at a price level of US$699 in the third-quarter, and falling...

GaAs foundry Win optimistic about 2Q12 outlook

May 17, 14:21

GaAs wafer foundry Win Semiconductors is optimistic over the business outlook for the second quarter of 2012 due to strong demand from its major clients including China-based RDA and Avago, according to industry sources.

Ardentec sees increasing orders for logic IC testing

May 16, 16:01

Ardentec, a Taiwan-based provider of wafer and mixed-signal IC testing services, has received increasing orders for logic IC testing including MCUs, controllers and application processors, according to the company.

Walton expected to see 15-20% sequential growth in 2Q12 revenues

May 16, 01:15

Walton Advanced Engineering, a Taiwan-based provider of memory IC packaging/testing services, is expected to see revenues for the second quarter of 2012 increase 15-20% on quarter mainly because of strong demand for specialty DRAM and mobile DRAM, according to industry sources.

UMC to break ground for new factories at Fab 12A

May 15, 12:09

United Microelectronics (UMC) will soon break ground for the fifth and sixth phase construction of its 12-inch fab located at the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP), according to an invitation to the groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for May 24.

SMIC posts narrower 1Q12 loss

May 11, 01:20

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), China's largest silicon wafer foundry, saw its quarterly net loss improve to US$42.8 million in first-quarter 2012 from US$165.2 million in the prior quarter. Revenues grew 14.9% on quarter to US$332.7 million.

Power outage at MagnaChip causes shipment delays

May 11, 01:05

Recent power outages at specialty IC foundry MagnaChip Semiconductor have caused delivery delays. Companies affected by the event include Sonix Technology, Elan Microelectronics, Sitronix Technology and Generalplus Technology.

TSMC posts growth in April revenues

May 10, 15:01

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has announced consolidated revenues for April 2012 grew 9.2% sequentially and 9.1% from a year ago to NT$40.5 billion (US$1.4 billion).

Global wafer shipments grow 1% in 1Q12, says SEMI

May 10, 10:45

Overall area of silicon wafers shipped in the first quarter of 2012 increased 1% on quarter, but decreased 11% from a year ago, according to SEMI in its quarterly analysis of the chip industry.

Counterfeit-part risk to rise as semiconductor market shifts into higher gear, IHS says

May 10, 10:23

With the semiconductor industry entering a phase of accelerating growth, the number of counterfeit-part incidents also is expected to rise to new record highs, according to IHS iSuppli.

Powerchip loss narrows in 1Q12

May 10, 10:20

Taiwan-based chipmaker Powerchip Technology has reported a net loss of NT$5.56 billion (US$18.9 million) for the first quarter of 2012, showing improvement compared to a loss of NT$8.87 billion in the prior quarter. EPS for the first quarter came to negative NT$1.

VIS April revenues significantly up sequentially

May 10, 01:30

Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS), a Taiwan-based provider of ASIC foundry services, on May 9 reported revenues of NT$1.379 billion (US$46.8 million) for April, rising 25.97% on month and 8.10% on year. January-April revenues were NT$4.530 billion down 14% on-year.

TSMC gives priority to Nvidia for 28nm capacity

May 9, 15:43

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has given priority to Nvidia for 28nm capacity, according to industry sources.

MediaTek looks to ship 75 million 3G solutions in 2012

May 9, 15:08

MediaTek is expected to ship 75 million 3G handset solutions in 2012, a 50% increase from 50 million units it projected earlier, according to industry sources.

DLP technology keeps Texas Instruments at top of MEMS market, says IHS

May 9, 10:07

Texas Instruments (TI) remained the world's No. 1 microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) manufacturer in 2011, retaining top honors after fending off runner-up Hewlett Packard (HP) in a bruising battle for the crown, according to IHS iSuppli.

Apache releases sign-off solution for sub-20nm designs

May 8, 16:49

Ansys subsidiary Apache Design recently introduced its RedHawk-3DX design tool to meet the power, performance and price demands of low-power mobile, high-performance computing, consumer and automotive electronics. This fourth-generation power sign-off solution delivers increased accuracy, capacity...

Focus on power efficiency in IC design benefiting Apache

May 8, 16:39

With mobility and smart devices being the hottest trends in the IT industry, power consumption is driving the entire semiconductor food chain, from the manufacturer to the designer to the system integrator, according to Dr. Andrew Yang, president of Ansys subsidiary Apache Design.

UMC April revenues up 11%

May 8, 15:14

United Microelectronics (UMC) has announced that revenues for April 2012 grew 11.4% sequentially to NT$9.12 billion (US$311.3 million).

GaAs wafer firm VPEC to post 5% sales growth in 2Q12

May 8, 01:20

Taiwan's Visual Photonics Epitaxy Company (VPEC), a manufacturer of GaAs pi-wafers made to fabricate power amplifiers (PA) or consumer technology products such as smartphones and tablets, is expected to post sales growth of 5% sequentially in the second quarter, according to market sources.

ASE, SPIL post slight drops in April sales

May 8, 01:10

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) have reported slight decreases in consolidated revenues for April 2012. ASE announced consolidated revenues of NT$14.87 billion (US$506.9 million) for April 2012, down 3.2% on month and 7.7% on year. ASE's consolidated...

Mirle 1Q12 revenues and profits shrink

May 7, 16:06

With its panel and solar customers being cautious about expansion, automation equipment supplier Mirle Automation has reported on-year declines in both revenues and profits for the first quarter of 2012.

Chipbond, ChipMOS 2Q12 sales expected to grow

May 7, 15:41

LCD driver IC packaging and testing houses Chipbond Technology and ChipMOS Technologies are expected to see their second-quarter sales register single-digit growth sequentially thanks to a pick-up in demand for small- to medium-size panel applications, according to market sources.

Semiconductor probe card market grows 17% in 2011, says VLSI

May 4, 16:02

Worldwide sales of semiconductor probe cards grew by 17% in 2011 to reach US$1.17 billion, according to VLSI Research. While 2011 was one of the best in the industry's history, probe card sales still fell short of the record revenues of US$1.36 billion posted in 2007, VLSI said.

TSMC 28nm ARM Cortex-A9 test chip reaches beyond 3GHz

May 4, 14:39

TSMC has announced that its 28nm ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core processor test chip has achieved 3.1GHz performance under typical conditions.

ASE to issue overseas convertible bonds worth NT$9 billion

May 4, 14:02

Taiwan's Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), which provides semiconductor assembly and test services, has announced plans to issue overseas convertible bonds worth up to NT$9 billion (US$308 million) through private placement.

WIN, AWSC see on-month increase in April revenues

May 4, 01:10

Due to continuous demand for wireless communication devices, Taiwan-based providers of GaAs wafer foundry services, WIN Semiconductors and Advanced Wireless Semiconductor Company (AWSC), both reported increasing April revenues.

Chip sales up 1.5% in March, says SIA

May 3, 15:31

Worldwide sales of semiconductors for March 2012 were up 1.5% compared to the prior month, but were down 7.9% from a year ago, according to the SIA.

28nm represents fundamental shift in foundry industry

May 3, 13:57

While the recent focus of attention concerning the roll out of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) 28nm process has been on tight supply and yield issues, with fabless IC design firms such as Nvidia and Qualcomm confirming they have not been getting everything they want from the world's...

Hermes Microvision set for OTC listing

May 3, 12:20

Semiconductor inspection equipment supplier Hermes Microvision (HMI) will list on Taiwan's over-the-counter (OTC) stock market on May 21 at an initial price of NT$200 (US$6.85), according to the company.

KYEC raises 2012 capex to NT$3.5 billion

May 3, 11:25

IC testing specialist King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) has revised upward its capex target for 2012 to NT$3.5 billion (US$119.7 million), from NT$3 billion, on a more optimistic business outlook for certain market segments.

IDC raises 2012 chip market growth forecast

May 3, 01:05

IDC has raised its prediction for the 2012 global chip market to 6-7% annual growth from the 3.1% increase estimated previously.

Sigurd sales to rise on orders rebound

May 3, 01:00

Monthly sales at IC testing service provider Sigurd Microelectronics are expected to register sequential growth through June, and continue the positive momentum in the third quarter as orders for wireless communication chips, mixed-signal and power management ICs have picked up starting March, market...

TSMC eyeing advanced process chip orders from Apple

May 2, 16:36

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) plans to ramp up 20nm production ahead of schedule have prompted industry sources to speculate that the foundry will be aggressively striving for CPU orders for future Apple devices.

PTI, Walton post better-than-expected 1Q12 profits

May 2, 16:33

Despite early media speculation that Elpida Memory's bankruptcy filing would impact its supply-chain partners' business performance, Powertech Technology (PTI) and Walton Advanced Engineering, two of the DRAM maker's backend service providers, have reported better-than-expeced first-quarter profits.

GaAs wafer makers post mixed results for 1Q12

Apr 30, 16:13

GaAs (gallium arsenide) wafer makers Visual Photonics Epitaxy (VPEC), Win Semiconductor and Advanced Wireless Semiconductor (AWSC) have posted mixed results for the first quarter of 2012.

Equipment supplier Lumax posts EPS of NT$1.71 in 1Q12

Apr 30, 15:20

Semiconductor process control service supplier Lumax International has reported net profits of NT$184 million (US$6.27 million) for the first quarter of 2012, up 52% sequentially and 13.8% on year. First-quarter EPS was NT$1.71.