Helix Technology, a cold play on semiconductor equipment Message Board

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Helix Technology, a cold play on semiconductor equipment

HELX 34.24

-1.5%

4:00 PM EST

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next

To: Paul Kelly who wrote (691)	9/21/1999 12:32:00 PM
From: SJS	of 1227

I still think the jury's out on what's broken and what's not in Taiwan. Here's a post and a link (both different data points....)to get your thinking going on whose going to be affected. I guarantee that this will change as more data reaches us from that part of the world, and the fabs figure out what's really happening there... ---------- Message 11313537 ______________ Exclusive: Earthquake brings Taiwan's wafer production to a halt By Jack Robertson and Sandy Chen Electronic Buyers' News (09/21/99, 10:04:12 AM EDT) Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan -- Semiconductor production in Taiwan's huge chip-manufacturing center is likely to be down for days as a result of the huge earthquake that hit the country early Tuesday, killing more than 1,500 people. Production at all of the 28 wafer fabs here came to an abrupt halt due to widespread power outages in the area. A tour of several of those fabs by EBN found that little or no damage was done to any of the buildings in this mega-complex. But fab officials interviewed here said it could take days to evaluate fab safety and equipment. The production stoppage could have massive implications on the global electronics supply chain, since many U.S. semiconductor suppliers and OEMs rely on Taiwan's chip foundries. A spokesman for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. said engineers must inspect all the myriad gas distribution piping and connectors to be certain that there are no leaks. But that can't be done right now, since electricity is needed for the checks to be made. One fab, Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., is running on power furnished by a local power-generation company. Powerchip suffered a 40-minute blackout after the earthquake because it uses TaiPower Co. Ltd. It switched back to the power-generation company and is producing wafers for evalation purposes only. For the other 27 wafer fabs, the down time poses a potentially huge loss of wafers. An official at Winbond Electronics Corp. told EBN that the loss won't be known until power returns and the company can inspect wafers. Chip makers also said it could take days to determine how the quake may have affected production equipment. Suppliers were standing by to help in the assessment, once equipment can be turned on again. Officially, companies were putting the best possible spin on the shutdown. But in private conversations, executives were concerned that ultra-sensitive lithography optics and exposure tools may have been thrown out of alignment. Some said track systems may need to be readjusted. Furnace and deposition tools could be affected as well. Entire lines must be calibrated again and requalified, company spokesmen agreed. They had no estimate of the time this would take. Hsinchu was especially hard hit by the power loss because it is served primarily by one main transmission path from the Tien Luen generation complex in central Taiwan. The transmission path was shut down by the earthquake, said a Hsinchu Science Park representative. TaiPower transmission towers also were felled by the quake. The Science Park representative said the lack of a power grid complicated restoration of power. Most of Taipei was blacked out much of Tuesday

Report TOU Violation

Share This Post

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next