Looking for sales in all the right places: Used semiconductor equipment

PHOENIX, USA: Semico Research Corp. study, “Used Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment: Looking for Sales in All the Right Places,” identifies opportunities in the used semiconductor market.

This week, as the study is being released for publication, it is being reported that Texas Instruments is interested in taking over the 300mm assets from Qimonda’s US-based fab in Virginia. This announcement confirms one of the major opportunities pointed out in the study.

One of Semico’s major findings relates to advanced 300mm fabs which currently offer manufacturing capability from 90nm to 45nm. These fabs will be converted from the production of once leading-edge processors and memory devices to the production of other semiconductors such as analog devices, image sensors, mixed signal parts and other logic devices.

Some of these semiconductors will migrate to production at 90nm or less, using the 300mm tools at their original design capabilities.

The study goes on to identify other opportunities for semiconductor products that use trailing edge, mature and advanced 300mm technologies.

Trailing Edge Fabs (Technology Nodes > 0.80µm): Wafer demand for trailing edge semiconductors will increase more than 20% from 2008 through 2013. Bargain-priced 200mm tools are now on the market. This creates a sales opportunity for used 200mm tools to be used for trailing edge production at nodes well below their original capabilities.

Mature Fabs (Technology Nodes from 0.80µm to 130nm): Wafer demand for products requiring 0.80µm to 130nm capacity will increase more than 16 percent from 2008 through 2013. This creates an opportunity for the sale of used 200mm tools to be put back into production to meet capacity requirements.

Semico’s Study MA108-09 predicts that other semiconductors will migrate to production on 300mm equipment. The purpose will be to increase production capacity while realizing the cost benefits of production on 300mm wafers. This is exactly what TI appears to be doing by purchasing the advanced Qimonda tools. TI is acquiring 300mm wafer capacity for production of analog products.

The Semico study, “Used Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment: Looking for Sales in All the Right Places,” provides five-year forecasts for worldwide semiconductor shipments by device type, wafer demand and fabs required for production (Trailing Edge, Mature, Advanced and Leading Edge). Finally, the study provides a five-year forecast for semiconductor equipment supply and demand.