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Non-Tech : Kirk's Market Thoughts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Gottfried who wrote (4861)6/26/2017 9:52:40 AM
From: Kirk ©1 Recommendation

Recommended By
Gottfried

  Respond to of 26706
 
One clue of past tops was shorter lead times while double and triple booking to insure supplies pushed out lead times. Looks like lead times are still getting longer for many important items.

China foundries striving for more dummy wafer supplies

Josephine Lien, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Monday 26 June 2017]

China-based logic IC and memory foundries including Nexchip Semiconductor and Rui-Li (transliterated from Chinese) Integrated Circuit have offered 20% higher prices than what their bigger rivals offer in order to secure more supplies of "dummy" or test wafers particularly 12-inch ones, according to sources at upstream wafer suppliers.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), for example, is offering US$75-80 to purchase test wafers. China-based foundry players have proposed more than US$90 in order to grab more supplies, the sources said.

The higher prices China-based foundries are willing to offer for test wafers have prompted some upstream silicon wafer suppliers to stop quoting their prices for the fourth quarter of 2017 as they are inclined to closely observe market changes, the sources indicated.

Prices of prime silicon wafers, which rose for a third consecutive quarter in the three months to June, are expected to continue trending upward in the third and fourth quarters of 2017 due to tight supplies and growing demand, the sources noted.

Prices for polished wafers for use in the manufacture of DRAM, 3D NAND and other memory products are set to rise another 20% sequentially in the third quarter, while prices for epitaxial (epi) wafers for logic IC manufacturing will increase 15% on quarter. The anticipated less growth in epi-wafer prices is due to the long-term contracts major suppliers including Shin-Etsu and Sumco have stuck recently with their major customers, the sources said.

In other news...... more at digitimes.com



China foundries demanding more 12-inch test wafers
Photo: Digitimes file photo



To: Gottfried who wrote (4861)7/3/2017 11:09:22 AM
From: Kirk ©3 Recommendations

Recommended By
Gottfried
mary-ally-smith
rdkflorida2

  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 26706
 
This sort of talk seems to come at market tops.... but it would sure be nice if it comes true.

Globalfoundries CEO predicts a golden decade for semiconductors

Jean Chu, Shanghai; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES
[Monday 3 July 2017]

The semiconductor industry will enter a golden age in the next decade, driven by robust chip and memory demand for ultra-large data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) applications, according to Globalfoundries CEO Sanjay Jha.

Chipmakers will have to be capable of providing sufficient manufacturing capacity and corresponding technologies to support future applications, Jha indicated. For IC foundries, future applications for AI and Big Data provide the best opportunity to move forward. China is also looking to transform from a manufacturing-based economy to one that focuses on innovation in AI and other new applications, Jha said.

Globalfoundries is speeding up the construction of a new 12-inch fab in Chengdu, China, Jha noted. The fab is scheduled to begin production of mainstream process technologies in 2018, and will focus on manufacturing Globalfoundries' commercially available 22FDX process technology with volume production expected to start in 2019.

In addition, Globalfoundries recently announced the availability of its 7nm leading-performance (7LP) FinFET semiconductor technology designed for applications such as premium mobile processors, cloud servers and networking infrastructure. The first customer.... more at digitimes.com



To: Gottfried who wrote (4861)7/26/2017 11:38:08 AM
From: Kirk ©2 Recommendations

Recommended By
Gottfried
The Ox

  Respond to of 26706
 
North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts June 2017 Billings
semi.org
.
MILPITAS, Calif. — July 25, 2017 — North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $2.29 billion in billings worldwide in June 2017 (three-month average basis), according to the June Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide billings of North American equipment manufacturers in June 2017 was $2.29 billion. The billings figure is 0.8 percent higher than the final May 2017 level of $2.27 billion, and is 33.4 percent higher than the June 2016 billings level of $1.72 billion.

Through the first half of the year, 2017 equipment billings are 50 percent above the same period last year," said Dan Tracy, senior director, Industry Research & Statistics, SEMI. “While month-to-month growth is slowing, 2017 will be a remarkable growth year for the semiconductor capital equipment industry."

The SEMI Billings report uses three-month moving averages of worldwide billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.



Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Year-Over-Year

January 2017

$1,859.4

52.3%

February 2017

$1,974.0

63.9%

March 2017

$2,079.7

73.7%

April 2017

$2,136.4

46.3%

May 2017 (final)

$2,270.5

41.8%

June 2017 (prelim)

$2,288.9

33.4%



Source: SEMI ( www.semi.org), July 2017

SEMI publishes a monthly North American Billings report and issues the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) report in collaboration with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ). The WWSEMS report currently reports billings by 24 equipment segments and by seven end market regions. SEMI also has a long history of tracking semiconductor industry fab investments in detail on a company-by-company and fab-by-fab basis in its World Fab Forecast and SEMI FabView databases. These powerful tools provide access to spending forecasts, capacity ramp, technology transitions, and other information for over 1,000 fabs worldwide. For an overview of available SEMI market data, please visit www.semi.org/en/MarketInfo.

The data contained in this release were compiled by David Powell, Inc., an independent financial services firm, without audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. SEMI and David Powell, Inc. assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the underlying data.

About SEMISEMI® connects over 2,000 member companies and 1.3 million professionals worldwide annually to advance the technology and business of electronics manufacturing. SEMI members are responsible for the innovations in materials, design, equipment, software, and services that enable smarter, faster, more powerful, and more affordable electronic products. Since 1970, SEMI has built connections that have helped its members grow, create new markets, and address common industry challenges together. SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley (Milpitas, Calif.), Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.semi.org and follow SEMI on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Association ContactDeborah Geiger/SEMI
Phone: 1.408.943.7988
Email: dgeiger@semi.org

Notes

Next SEMI Billings report is August 22, 2017 at 3:00pm Pacific

For information on SEAJ Book-to-Bill Report, visit www.seaj.or.jp