Kent, Now do you want to know why I got back heavily into AFLX at this time? Of course it backed and filled from a technical perspective, but also this announcement that Flip Chip Technologies Inc posted at their website:
FLIP CHIP TECHNOLOGIES INTRODUCES NEW AROUND-THE-CLOCK
MANUFACTURING SCHEDULE
PHOENIX, ARIZONA (January 7, 1999) - Flip Chip Technologies (FCT), L.L.C. announced today it has introduced seven day, around-the-clock fab operations. The new schedule is comprised of four shifts on a compressed work week with each shift working 12 hours on their assigned days. The move to this manufacturing schedule, from a two-shift, five-day structure, will allow FCT to further improve its turnaround times for customers, better utilize production equipment and increase employee satisfaction.
"The new schedule enables us to support increasing bumping service demand from our customers. This change also helps us accommodate our customer's critical production schedules by providing quicker turnaround times with the same world-class quality of service," said John Herman, Vice President of Operations for FCT.
According to Harry Hollack, President and CEO of FCT, "We continue to work hard to achieve the goals we have set for 1999. As our customer base and volumes grow, the additional manufacturing capacity achieved by working through the weekend will expedite our progress. Last quarter we exceeded our revenue expectations, almost doubled our volume, and maintained very high yields."
"This move further demonstrates FCT's commitment to be the world's premier interconnect and wafer processing service. We are taking the initiative to meet our customer's current needs while looking ahead to address their future requirements," added Hollack.
FCT is an innovative, high-volume wafer bumping resource providing IC packaging services and expertise to the semiconductor industry. A joint venture of Delphi Delco Electronics Systems and Kulicke & Soffa Industries, FCT is an ISO 9002 and QS 9000 certified company formed in 1996. FCT offers proven merchant bumping services used in applications requiring higher performance, reduced form factor and lower costs than those obtainable through traditional surface mount technologies. FCT's newest product, the Ultra CSPTM, is a revolutionary wafer-level chip size package and the mostcost-effective CSP in the market today.
Flip Chip Technologies - 3701 E. University Drive - Phoenix, AZ 85034 tel: 602-431-6020 - fax: 602-431-6021 - web: www.flipchip.com
AFLX and FCT are both Phoenix-based. Since AFLX and FCT cooperate in flip chip research, then it's a good bet that AFLX buys its BGA's for the flip chips from FCT. And here FCT says customer demand is increasing. This is just a clue, but I think a good clue that flip chip demand is growing, and it's growing specifically for AFLX. We'll find out in about ten days when AFLX release sits earnings report |
