Intel plans move to larger, cheaper 300-mm wafers
June 9, 1999 12:24 PM
PALO ALTO, Calif., June 9 (Reuters) - Intel Corp. (INTC), the world's largest computer-chip maker, on Wednesday said it will begin the move toward using 300-millimeter semiconductor wafers, a step long awaited by the chip-equipment industry.
Intel said it expects to lower costs by about 30 percent for each chip made on the larger wafer, and will pass along savings via lower prices. A lingering question in the semiconductor industry has been when the chip companies would move to the dinner-plate-sized wafers from the current salad-plate sized ones.
Shares of Intel rose $1.13 to $52.81 on the Nasdaq after climbing as high as $53.25, while the stock of chip-equipment makers Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) rose $1.50 to $63.31, Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) added $1.31 to $33.19, and KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) gained $3.50 to $52.94
The larger wafer represents more than a doubling of the surface of the current 200-millimeter wafer. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel also said it plans to start volume production of 300-millimeter chips using its 0.13 micron technology with copper in 2002, roughly a year after it begins 0.13 micron production on the now-standard 200-millimeter wafers.
"Larger wafers give the industry the opportunity to improve productivity, allowing Intel to bring ever-more-powerful semiconductor chips at lower costs to consumers around the world," said Michael Splinter, head of Intel's technology and manufacturing group.
As the largest chipmaker, Intel's move to use the larger silicon wafers -- the raw material from which computer chips are made -- is expected to jump-start an industry-wide move to the newer technology, analysts said. |
