Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

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 : Amkor Technology Inc (AMKR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tech101 who wrote (124)	3/17/1999 2:38:00 PM
From: tech101	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1056

How Many BGA/MicroBGAs from AMKR through the Ramp-Up? TI ramps volume shipment of 0.18-micron baseband IC for cellular phones A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted 9 a.m. EST/6 a.m., PST, 3/17/99 DALLAS -- Texas Instruments Inc. here confirmed that it has begun shipping samples of a highly-integrated digital baseband processor for cellular phones using a new 0.18-micron CMOS process technology. The device contains a digital signal processor core, a RISC-based microcontroller, memory, analog functions and ASIC gates. Earlier this month, TI executives told analysts that the company had developed the digital baseband processor using the 0.18-micron drawn-gate (0.15-micron L-effective) technology. During the presentation, TI vice president Gilles Delfassy said the custom part had been shipped to Finland's Nokia Group, and that more than 2,000 processors could be produced on a single 8-inch wafer. The new baseband chip is expected to play a key role in TI's goal of shipping more than 160 million DSPs to wireless handset makers this year (see March 5 story). In announcing the sampling of the baseband processor, TI managers declined to discuss Nokia's role in the development of the part, but they said the custom device was made on a standard dual-processor platform that includes a C54x DSP core and a RISC controller. Several of TI's major customers are expected to use the dual-processor baseband chip this year, and standard catalog DSP products will be launched in the second half of 1999 using the new process technology, said Bob Carl, marketing manager for the Americas in TI Wireless Communications Business Unit. The 0.18-micron (0.15-micron L-effective) process results in 30-50% less power consumption, a potential performance gain of 20%, and cost savings from the integration of more functions on a die, said Peter Rickert, the development manager for the technology at TI's Kilby Center. Inside the Kilby development center, TI is ramping up volume production of a new 8-inch wafer processing line. The facility's fab is expected to be operating at 5,000 wafer starts a month this year, and eventually the new process technology will be transferred to TI's volume production plants. "We will be shipping millions of these [digital baseband] chips this year from the Kilby facility," Rickert said. The custom digital baseband IC is housed in a 144-lead ball-grid array (BGA) package. --J. Robert Lineback 204.247.196.31

To: tech101 who wrote (124)	3/17/1999 2:45:00 PM
From: tech101	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1056

Foundry Pioneer Bullish on Trend Says share of chip biz will double From Electronic News--March 15, 1999 By Robert Ristelhueber Phoenix--Nearly 30 percent of all semiconductor manufacturing will take place in foundries by 2008, double the current rate, predicted Morris Chang, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), last week. Giving the keynote speech at the Semico Research conference here, Chang said that growth will come as more semiconductor companies see the wisdom of eschewing their own wafer fabs in order to concentrate on chip design. "The foundry model allows them to focus on their core competency," he said. "I think it's a foolish company that distracts themselves and worries about a fab." Chang, widely considered the founder of Taiwan's chip industry owing to his formation of TSMC in 1986, estimated that all IC wafer manufacturing currently amounts to $37.6 billion, of which $5.4 billion is believed to be represented by the foundries. By 2008, foundries will account for $39.4 billion of the total $137 billion manufacturing pie, he added. That represents a compound annual growth rate of 22 percent, "considerably faster than the total IC market." That growth estimate was immediately called too conservative by Rob Chaplinsky, a partner in Mohr, Davidow, who also spoke at the conference. He predicted the foundries will account for "well north of 50 percent" of all wafer production by 2008. Chang cited the usual reasons why chip companies are following the fabless route, including the low cost of entry. But he also claimed that the foundries have greatly improved their performance, to the point where they can outperform many captive fabs. In the area of process technology, for example, he said, "Intel was once two years ahead, but we anticipate in the 0.18-micron game we'll be fully convergent with Intel." Foundries are becoming adept at protecting and facilitating the flow of intellectual property (IP) among the different players in the emerging system-on-chip era, he said. "That means in the customer's eye, our fab is like his own fab in confidentiality and information access." Chang took a shot at chip companies that contract out part of their chip capacity for foundry. "Very, very few, in fact I would say none of them have succeeded. Why? The corporate culture between a normal semiconductor company and a foundry is vastly different. One is service oriented, and the other has other priorities, other bosses they pay homage to. That spells the difference between a good foundry and a part-time, amateur foundry." Chang gave an in-depth picture of the financial structure of the foundry business, which he said requires an average of $2 in assets for each dollar in annual sales, assuming an 80-90 percent utilization rate. He estimated that Intel probably has less than $1 in assets, a fabless chip company 20 or 25 cents in assets, and a PC company 10 or 15 cents in assets for each dollar in annual sales. In order to self-fund its growth and not lose market share, a foundry will need to average 26.4 percent profit after tax over the next decade. "So, some customers of our will say, 'Why the hell should you make that when we only make 6 or 7 percent?' Well, the fact is that they make more return on assets and return on equity than we do, even though we make more return on sales." Chang said TSMC's 8-inch fabs are about 90 percent full right now, while its 6-inch fabs are about 70 percent full. He expects TSMC to have sales of close to $2 billion this year. Research and development costs account for about 6 to 7 percent of sales. With more integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) choosing to utilize foundries, how will TSMC balance its needs with the needs of its traditional fabless customers? "We have been good partners with the fabless industry since we started," Chang answered. "It was they who made us successful and in turn it was we who helped make them successful. We're not going to give up that marriage because there's a new girl walking around the block. Sure, we'll accommodate the IDMs, but I don't see a real problem because the IDMs are pretty gradual in their outsourcing." electronicnews.com