In his most recent position at Intel Corp., Thompson managed all of the company's manufacturing engineering and capital equipment
procurement. Prior to that, he led all of Intel's microprocessor wafer fabs and was responsible for establishing and overseeing the company's
offshore assembly operations.
Hmmm!!!! I just wonder.<GGG>
At these depressed prices I see SVGI as an attractive investment. I still beleive their vertical furnaces reign supreme in the marketplace and it is theirs to destroy. BTW-they are definitely leaving the door open for competitors to successfully attack their strength here.
The MIII+ is a decent system but it still has a sordid past. I do not really think SVGL will ever be able to ramp up their facility to capacity due to the very strong competition out in the market. They have a very steep uphill battle and even if they get IBM and INTC under their banner, I do not necessarily think that it is a preamble for other companies to jump on the bandwagon. IBM and INTC, as well as TI, have always marched to the beat of a different drummer, because they could. It will be interesting to see if INTC and TI, given the severity of the downturn's effect on them, will try to be more cost effective with future purchases. Their previous "price arrogance" and marketplace competition may force them to take a more realistic view on which equipment will do the job for them.
I wish I could jump on the MIII+ bandwagon but I cannot. As excellent a system as it is, I doubt it will be widely accepted across the industry. The major hurdel for them is " factory compatibility". Many of the ASMLF, Nikon, and Canon i-line and early DUV systems are easily upgradeable to the next generation of DUV technology. Even if new systems are required, a vast majority of the basic functions for operation, maintenance, engineering, etal. are going to be identical to the existing installed systems. there is a great deal to be said about not having to re-train operators, Engineers, and Maintenance personnel on a new system and having to support two platforms from a parts, labor and/or service contract perspective, not to mention the mix-and-match scenarios.
Present marketshare with advanced i-line systems and preliminary DUV systems will more than likely dictate future trends in this arena. Being a lithographer, I would first prove to myself that the new ASMLF , Canon, or Nikon DUV systems could not be placed alongside the existing systems that I already have BEFORE even looking at the MIII+ system. The training and support issues associated with bringing in a different supplier far outweigh a slight improvement that the MIII+ might offer.
On the other hand, if a brand new facility were being outfitted from the ground up, I would choose the best system on the market that meets a decent COO (Cost of Ownership).
Andrew |
