Lead times reach 17 weeks for 130-nm foundry capacity
But are customers double ordering?
By Mark LaPedus
Semiconductor Business News
(07/03/03 10:41 a.m. EST)
siliconstrategies.com
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Demand for leading-edge wafer-foundry capacity is apparently outstripping supply, as customer lead times for 0.13-micron technologies have extended to 17 weeks, according to industry analysts.
Reports have surfaced in recent times that fab-utilization rates for leading-edge foundry capacity are running at about 95 percent. The lack of 0.13-micron foundry capacity has extended the lead times for customers, although there are also signs of double ordering in the supply chain, said analyst Michael McConnell, who watches the foundry industry for Pacific Crest Securities Inc., based in Portland, Ore.
Still, the lead times for leading-edge, 0.13-micron foundry technology have extended from about 13-to-14 weeks in April, to about 17 weeks today, McConnell said. Lead times indicate the time from a customer orders a wafer to the time it is delivered. The lead-time for a 0.13-micron device is about “two-and-a-half days” per layer, plus “three weeks in the queue,” he said. On average, a 0.13-micron device has about 35 layers.
The 0.13-micron lead times have reportedly extended at Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte. Ltd., IBM Corp.'s Microelectronics Division, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., and United Microelectronics Corp.
“I think the lead times are extending across the board [at select foundries],” he said. “Demand is outstripping supply, which is favorable to companies like TSMC.”
Indeed, after a period of sluggishness, TSMC and the other foundries are beginning to see huge demand--at least for their leading-edge processes. TSMC, for example, is seeing strong 0.13-micron demand from its core customers, such as Altera, ATI, Broadcom, Nvidia, and Motorola, McConnell said.
Despite the demand, TSMC is reluctant to expand its leading-edge fab capacity until the demand picture is less cloudy. “They know their customers are double ordering,” he added.
A spokesman for TSMC indicated the lead times for 0.13-micron capacity at the silicon foundry giant depends upon the chip design. The 17-week lead-time figure “sounds a little high to us,” according to the TSMC spokesman. “We're looking at 14 weeks.”
In the third quarter of 2003, TSMC's overall fab-utilization rate will be “north of 80 percent, with the smaller geometries being better than that,” the spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for Chartered declined to comment, saying the company will discuss the status of its 0.13-micron technology when it releases its financial results on July 17. |
