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

To: Kirk © who wrote (10375)	9/23/2020 11:09:23 AM
From: robert b furman	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 26909

Hi Kirk, "related backend services such as heterogeneous IC packaging" This is a subject I suspect has yet to find its jargon or generic term. Cohu calls it "Wafer chip scale packaging" (and defines its addressable market as 20% of all chips), Brks calls it "advance packaging" and its size of revenue has leaped from 12 million to 50 million annually over the last 2-3 years. Whatever it finally becomes known as, it is used on chips that go into mobile phone handsets. It is a very nice growth market and I wonder who else is involved in this segment? Chip business looks good to great for those who are involved with these advanced nodes and the many steps of processing required. I like to listen to CEO Stephen Schwartz (brks). He has the best forward view of where both logic and memory are going. He sold off the slow growth divisions and kept those that are part of the many process steps that are needed in advanced chips. He emphasizes that not only are the process steps more complex, but the chemicals utilized are stronger and require speciaL metals that weather the strong etch acids. He also emphasizes the greater need for contamination prevention. Contamination prevention ranges from the vacuum pods that contain the wafer through the many steps to the storage of reticles used in the lithography of the design. A trip through a modern fab would drop my jaw I'm sure. At any rate good to see the complexity driving demand of equipment. Now to manage the resource allocation such that excess capacity is never achieved - as in NEVER sell top of the line equipment to CHINA! Bob