Semiconductor equipment companies including Applied Materials, ASML and Lam Research have launched refurbish and spare parts programs to help their clients save manufacturing costs while migrating to 10nm process technology, according to industry sources.
Transitioning to a new generation of process technology allows chipmakers to drive down the manufacturing costs for chips. At the same time, however, a portion of chipmakers' existing production tools have to be eliminated, the sources said.
For a DRAM chipmaker, manufacturing costs could be brought down 20-30% when converting production to a new process, while 20-30% of its equipment is obsoleted, the sources continued.
With the refurbish program, unused equipment can be refurbished enabling chipmakers to resell, the sources indicated. As for the spare parts program, fab-tool suppliers provide chipmakers new equipment components to replace and/or upgrade the old ones with lower repair expenses, the sources said.
The 2015 capex of major chipmakers TSMC, Samsung Electronics and Intel are set to reach US$10.8 billion, US$15 billion and US$8.7 billion, respectively, as they are gearing up for 14/16nm FinFET manufacturing.
Article translated by Jessie Shen
