Asahi Kasei starts operation at new integrated research complex

SHIZUOKA, JAPAN: Asahi Kasei has completed construction of a new integrated research complex within its plant and laboratory grounds in Fuji City, Shizuoka, with the operation starting as the Asahi Kasei Group’s key base for R&D and the creation of new businesses.

Construction of this new research complex began in August 2008, to reinforce R&D and advance the creation and development of new businesses in electronic and optical materials and in environment and energy-related technology, fields of focus in the Asahi Kasei Group’s Growth Action -– 2010 mid-term initiative.

Serving as the key base for R&D to develop new businesses and markets with innovative technology precisely aligned with market needs, the new complex features large clean rooms which enable the use of a wide range of research equipment and apparatus compatible with high-definition and high-purity experimentation.

This will facilitate new businesses development through joint and collaborative R&D not only within the Asahi Kasei Group but also with outside organizations.

The new complex will serve to extend and advance the Asahi Kasei Group’s approach to R&D which emphasizes the combination of established core technologies with emerging technologies, yielding a high-level synthesis of new technology, with results obtained more quickly, in direct contact with markets and users.

Features of the integrated research complex
Large clean rooms
Each of the clean rooms is large enough to accommodate equipment for the volume production of prototype products and for applications evaluation, enabling quick and seamless advancement to marketing activities.

Facilities for joint work
A full range of installations is incorporated to facilitate collaboration with customers, universities, research institutions, and other outside organizations.

Global information sharing
The complex utilizes advanced IT infrastructure and includes venues for hosting international meetings, discussions, forums, and symposiums.

Ecology and ergonomics
The latest energy conservation technology is incorporated, including a rooftop gardening system, an ice thermal energy storage system, photocatalyst-coated self-cleaning walls, and solar panels. The workspace will be designed for ergonomic comfort and efficiency.

Duolog announces distributor agreement with Innotech

SAN JOSE, USA: Duolog Technologies Ltd, the leading provider of SoC integration and automation tools, has entered into a distributor agreement with Innotech Corp. for exclusive distribution of Duolog products in Japan.

The formation of a distributor agreement with Innotech will enable Duolog to meet the increasing demand for its SoC integration and automation tools in the Japanese market. Innotech will also help to accelerate Duolog’s access to new markets such as digital consumer electronics, musical instrumentation and automotive. Based on the agreement with Duolog, Innotech will provide a dedicated Duolog team, including both sales representatives and Field Applications Engineers (FAEs).

Duolog will leverage Innotech's extensive experience in the distribution and support of EDA tools in the Japanese market.

“Innotech has a strong reputation and customer base, as well as a proven track record of selling and providing technical support for leading-edge EDA tools from companies such as Cadence Design Systems. We fully expect that this agreement will lead to additional Duolog customers in Japan and will help us to diversify into new market areas,” said Ray Bulger, CEO of Duolog.

Innotech General Manager and Director of IC Solutions, Takashi Takahashi, added: "We selected Duolog Technologies as our partner as Duolog has strong expertise in developing robust products to enable the rapid realisation of SoC, MCU and FPGA designs. Duolog’s products enhance an important part of the design flow for Japanese semiconductor and system companies.

"We would like Japanese customers to adopt and use these integration and automation products in their designs to take full advantage of the many benefits they bring such as greatly improved productivity and communication."

SUSS MicroTec expands 3D integration activities in Japan

GARCHING/MUNICH, GERMANY: SUSS MicroTec, a supplier of innovative process and test solutions for the semiconductor industry and related markets, has shipped a LithoPack300 lithography cluster to Japan.

The system has been successfully installed at the customer site where it will be used for 3D integration technology development. The cluster solution with coat, bake, expose and develop modules for wafers up to 300mm constitutes a cost-efficient approach for the challenging Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) manufacturing and backside redistribution layer (RDL) in 3D integration production.

With this integrated lithography solution and further solutions for permanent and temporary wafer bonding SUSS MicroTec offers a complete process and technology portfolio for 3D integration. SUSS MicroTec has recently announced its participation in a range of research projects on 3D integration processes driving technology advances from the equipment supplier side.

The LithoPack300 combines two 300mm photolithography modules in one system and represents the most cost-efficient integrated lithography solution in the market. The MA300 Gen2 module, a 300mm next generation mask aligner platform, provides excellent back-side processing capabilities that enable highly accurate photolithography processes for the manufacturing of back side redistribution layers or TSV etch masks.

The ACS300 module offers closed cover coating technology and best-in-class edge bead removal precision and therefore enables optimum thick resist processing for 3D integration processes.

“In recent years SUSS MicroTec lithography systems have developed into an enabling platform for next generation 3D Integration technologies”, said Rolf Wolf, general manager of SUSS MicroTec’s lithography division. “Today SUSS Mask Aligners can be enhanced with tooling for submicron alignment, wafer edge handling or UV-bonding for wafer to wafer stacking, all features that have become critically important for 3D applications.

“With the involvement of SUSS MicroTec in international research cooperations we are proud to become further involved in 3D integration process development.” said Raymond Lau, Business Manager for SUSS MicroTec in Japan.

“Our Japanese customers will directly benefit from these technical advances. We enjoy being able to offer a well-engineered solution portfolio for 3D integration that really meets their specific needs.”

Growing signs that semicon equipment market recovery has begun!

NEW TRIPOLI, USA: Rises in the book-to-bill ratio by North American and Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturers is giving hope that the downturn has bottomed out. BUT THERE’S A PROBLEM, according to the report “The Global Market for Equipment and Materials for IC Manufacturing,” recently published by The Information Network.

Positive signals are pointing to a recovery:

SEMI reported this week that North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $323.4 million in orders in June 2009 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.77, according to SEMI. The three-month average in June grew about 12 percent from $287.8 million in May, with the on-year drop narrowing to 69 percent.

Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment registered billings in May 2009 of 39.2 billion yen ($409.7 million). The billings figure is 3.2 percent down from April 2009 and 68.7 percent down the May 2008 billings level.

However, capital equipment expenditures as a percentage of semiconductor revenues have been dropping precipitously, as shown in the chart going back to 1995. In January 1995, 11.4 percent of revenues generated by semiconductor manufacturers were spend on new processing equipment. Forward to May 2009 and only 3.8 percent of semiconductor revenues were spent on equipment.

For all of 1995, 13.8 percent of semiconductor revenues were spent on equipment purchases. For 2007, a healthy year for the equipment market, 11.7 percent of semiconductor revenues were spent on equipment.Source: The Information Network

For 2009, we forecast that semiconductor revenues will drop 26 percent, whereas, we forecast semiconductor equipment revenues to drop 46 percent. The chart clearly illustrates this difference. Capital equipment purchases from January through May 2009 were only 4.9% of semiconductor revenues.

Semiconductor equipment manufacturers, in an effort to gain one-upmanship in the market, have been increasing throughputs of their product. Fifteen years ago, 60 wafers per hour was the norm. Now tools are on the market with a throughput twice that amount, meaning that only half the number of tools are needed to process the same number of wafers.

The semiconductor industry started replacing the manufacture of chips from 200mm to 300mm wafers in 1997. Because of the larger diameter, 2.25 times more chips can be made on a 300mm wafer than a 200mm wafer. In 1997, approximately 8,000 300mm wafers were utilized, representing a small fraction of the 141 million wafers with diameters ranging from 100mm to 200mm.

In 2008, nearly 32 million 300mm wafers were processed, representing 21% of the 149 million wafers processed. Here again, half the number of tools are needed to process the same number of chips.

Technology advances have mitigated the reduction. In 1995, state-of-the-art ICs were manufactured with dimensions of 350nm (0.35 microns). Currently, state-of-the-art chips are manufactured with dimensions as small as 45nm.

Equipment to make these chips doesn’t come cheap. Lithography equipment, for example, from companies such as ASML, Canon, and Nikon cost about $4 million to manufacture a chip with 350mm dimensions but $40 million to manufacture a chip with 45nm dimensions. That’s why, a semiconductor manufacturing plant (fab) that cost $1 billion in 1995 now costs $4 billion.

The semiconductor equipment industry is also suffering from competition from some really large vendors. The top 10 equipment suppliers registered $24.5 billion in sales in 2008, compared with $30.7 billion for the whole market. That left on $6.2 billion in revenues to be shared by the next 50 equipment companies.

So, while things look better for the equipment industry going forward through the remainder of 2009, the long term prognosis doesn’t bode well for the industry in general, and particularly for the small players.

Cypress TrueTouch touchscreen in Sharp's Sportio water beat phone

SAN JOSE, USA: Cypress Semiconductor Corp. today announced that the TrueTouch touchscreen solution from Cypress implements the new waterproof touchscreen for the KDDI Sportio water beat mobile phone.

The new phone, manufactured by Sharp Communication Systems Group, has a 3-inch touchscreen with brilliant colors, and integrates a water resistive feature equivalent to IPX5/7*.

The Sportio water beat is oriented towards active users, with a small size and weight along with applications geared towards fitness, golf and other outdoor activities using both GPS and accelerometer technologies. The new phone also offers rich entertainment capabilities such as one-segment digital TV, a 3.2-megapixel camera and an audio player.

Cypress’s TrueTouch family, based on the PSoC® programmable system-on-chip architecture, includes single-touch, multi-touch and “multi-touch all-point” offerings. The multi-touch all-point solution can track up to 10 simultaneous touches, a feature unmatched by competing products. The Cypress TrueTouch solution also enables the industry’s best water rejection, as shown by the Sportio water beat phone.

In addition, TrueTouch is the industry’s most flexible touchscreen solution, as the unique PSoC architecture allows designers to implement differentiated features and make last-minute design iterations without board changes. With the TrueTouch architecture, customers can choose to work with a wide variety of touchscreen vendors and/or LCD module vendors to create their designs.

“The Sportio water beat is an amazing product and we are happy to see TrueTouch technology contribute to its rich feature set,” said Norm Taffe, executive vice president of Cypress’s Consumer and Computation Division. “Our waterproof technology is one of many features that set TrueTouch apart from competitive offerings.”

“The TrueTouch solution continues to grow in popularity among leading Japanese companies,” said Hitoshi Yoshizawa, Japan country manager for Cypress. “The unmatched flexibility and performance of TrueTouch along with our excellent local technical support staff offer customers the best choice for implementing touchscreens.”

TrueTouch
Touchscreens have become the user interface of choice for many applications. Touchscreen technology addresses the conflicting demands for smaller products with larger displays by eliminating traditional buttons without sacrificing screen size. They also enable users to manipulate new functions easily and intuitively by interacting directly with content on the screen.

Cypress’s TrueTouch devices support projected capacitive touchscreens, which offer numerous benefits over touchscreens based on resistive technology. These advantages include optical clarity, durability, reliability and cost-effective implementation of multi-touch features. The TrueTouch family is the industry’s broadest touchscreen offering, including single-touch, multi-touch gesture, and multi-touch all-point solutions.

Based on the flexible PSoC architecture, the TrueTouch solution enables designers to integrate additional functions such as driving LEDs, backlight control and I/O expansion. These functions, in conjunction with flexible communication options (I2C and SPI), allow for unparalleled system integration for touchscreen systems.

Magma's Talus Vortex and Hydra deliver timing closure on tough STARC design

SAN JOSE, USA & YOKOHAMA, JAPAN: Magma Design Automation Inc. announced that Japan's Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Center (STARC) has evaluated the Talus Vortex physical implementation system and Hydra, an auto-interactive floorplanning and hierarchical design planning and management solution.

STARC, a research consortium co-founded by major Japanese semiconductor companies, reported that the combined Talus Vortex and Hydra flow delivered impressive timing closure results on a very large test design and noted that the use of multi-processing throughout the flow contributes to the good turnaround time.

Based on the these results, STARC is presenting Talus Vortex and Hydra to member companies as a complete hierarchical flow to manage multimillion-gate design complexity and achieve timing closure.

The decision to endorse Magma's tools was made after a competitive benchmark based on a hierarchical design that included 12 million logic gates, 1,147 memory macros and six hierarchical blocks targeted at the 45nm process. The benchmark was meant to test the tools' ability to reach timing closure with no timing or design rule check (DRC) violations in the shortest amount of time.

Talus Vortex and Hydra reached timing closure with no DRCs and good turnaround time given the size of the design and the multi-mode, multi-corner optimization required to complete the design.

Magma's logic optimization capabilities reduced congestion and yielded an implementation that was much easier to route. This, along with Magma's crosstalk-avoidance capability during routing, reduced chip area by more than 12 percent, a significant achievement.

"We were impressed with the performance of Magma's Talus Vortex and Hydra on this large, complex 45-nm design," said Nobuyuki Nishiguchi, vice president and general manager of Division 1 at STARC.

"The Talus Vortex and Hydra multi-processing capabilities and large design capacity work well on large hierarchical designs. We were equally impressed with the system's ability to reach timing closure while optimizing for 15 different multi-mode, multi-corner scenarios."

"Ensuring that complex ICs operate correctly across all design modes and are 100 percent reliable across all process corners is an increasingly difficult task," said Premal Buch, general manager of Magma's Design Implementation Business Unit.

"With Talus Vortex's native multi-mode and multi-corner capabilities, analyses are performed earlier in the flow, use less memory and offer better runtime. The results of the STARC evaluation demonstrate Talus Vortex's ability to meet the timing, area and turnaround time of today's most advanced designs."

Clearly, mixed signals in OEM semiconductor design activities!

Friends, here is the full report on iSuppli's recent activity titled "Mixed Signals in OEM Design Activities".

Min-Sun Moon, senior analyst, Semiconductor Spend and Design, iSuppli, discussed how the "values" of design activities are discerned globally and how design decisions are made by a given country.

This report should be of particular interest to the Indian semiconductor design industry as it is apparent there is considerable scope for growth and development.

It is very well documented that everyone has been hit hard by the economic downturn. The electronic OEMs are no exception. They have also reduced shipments. The average selling prices (ASPs) of semiconductor devices have dropped dramatically as well.

Top six design influencing countries
As per iSuppli's Design Activity Tool, the top six countries leading in the design influence are as follow: USA, Japan, China/Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Germany. The United States retains the no. 1 position, followed by Japan and China.

The dramatic changes in ASPs of chips and products meant an almost about 5 percent drop in semiconductor spend in 2008, and above 21 percent drop in semiconductor spend by the top OEMs in 2009. Hence, design activities by top OEMs dropped significantly.

The USA apparently has been going through a tough period, and it does not seem to have a bright future in 2009-10 due to drop in design spends. However, in 2010, it should post about 9-10 percent growth. The top design influencers in the USA include HP, Dell, Apple and Motorola.

China seizes opportunity
According to Moon, Japan retained the second position. However, China has seized the opportunity during the recession. It has some growth compared to other countries who have had negative growth this year.

China still remains one of the most attractive markets for OEMs to enter. Many top OEM have either opened or expanded R&D centers in China in the last few years.

However, because of the recession, the expansion by OEMs slowed down in China during 2009. Nevertheless, the Chinese market continues to grow. In the next few years, China will grow and the other countries will have some positive growth as well, but their growth will be slower than that of China.

China has also been showing interesting signs. Some Chinese companies are trying to enter new markets, such as automotive.

China is currently the third largest country in terms of design influence. The design share is about 10 percent in 2009. China could get close to Japan and the USA, but it will not happen in the near future though.

Top five countries in 2009
In 2009, the top five countries by design influence spend share are as follows: USA -- 31 percent, Japan -- 25 percent, China/Hong Kong -- 10 percent, Taiwan -- 8 percent, South Korea -- 7 percent, and the Rest of the World -- 19 percent.

Mixed signals are apparent in the design activities by country. For instance, this year, the USA has been losing market share. A large percent of design activities are moving to the Asia Pacific region. Some business in the USA is being continued or reduced -- and being moved to other regions -- in order to maintain the business and lower the cost of operations.

Japan's design spend share increased from 22 percent (approximately $40 bn in 2008) to 25 percent in 2009. Japan is bringing a lot of design activities back home.

Taiwan used to be third largest in the design influence, but has now dropped to the fourth position, with share in design spend reaching 8 percent in 2009. China also contributed to the changes here. However, it is still better than others as some OEMs are still outsourcing to some ODMs located in Taiwan.

Identifying targets by regions
iSuppli gave examples of designing with sensors and actuators, and LEDs, as these are very popular currently.

According to Moon, designs using sensors and actuators have been more than 30 percent in the USA, while Japan has more than 25 percent. It is over 20 percent in Europe, while such designs have been less in Asia Pacific -- above 15 percent.

The biggest influencers for sensors and actuators in the USA are said to be Apple, HP and TRW Automotive.

For LEDs, more use has been happening in Japan -- over 30 percent. As an example, there are more LED TV design activities in Japan. The biggest influencers for LEDs in Japan are Canon and Sony.

Changes due to M&A
Another trend visible in the design spend share has been the changes due to mergers and acquisitions.

As an example, we have the Mitac Group, which acquired Magellan's consumer products division. In 2008, Mitac Group had 78 percent spend in Taiwan, and 18 percent in the USA. After acquiring Magellan, Taiwan's design spend share became 57 percent and USA's became 13 percent. On the other hand, France's share grew to 17 percent and Russia's to 7 percent. This indicates that country-wise, budgets do get changed. This is just one example.

These are indeed very interesting numbers and facts, and as mentioned earlier, India has a considerable opportunity as an influencer in the semiconductor design spend going forward.

Elpida to get funds from government, Taiwan Memory

This is a very important news, courtesy, MarketWatch!

By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch): Elpida Memory Inc. will receive 50 billion yen ($521 million), the government said Tuesday, much of it as part of Japan's new recapitalization program for struggling non-financial companies.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Elpida will get 30 billion yen from the Development Bank of Japan by the end of August in exchange for preferred shares.

The infusion is part of a new program is aimed at supporting companies whose failure the government fears could have a broader economic impact.

"Elpida faces a very tough environment," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai was quoted as saying in several reports from the region. "DRAMs are widely used by major industries in our country, and securing the stable supply of them will benefit people's lives, as well as economic and industrial activities."

Taiwan Memory Co., a chipmaker set up by the island's government, plans to invest an additional 20 billion yen by the end of this fiscal year ending in March 2010, the ministry also said.

Elpida Memory Inc. President Yukio Sakamoto reportedly told a news conference Tuesday that the fund injection under the government's new aid program was the best option available for the chip maker to secure funding and remain competitive.

Last month, Japan's only maker of dynamic random access memory chips posted a group net loss of 178.8 billion yen for the fiscal year which ended in March, deeper than its 23.5 billion yen loss for fiscal 2007.

Pioneer, NEC next?
Other Japanese firms are expected to follow Elpida's move to seek funds.

Pioneer Corp., which anticipates a sixth consecutive year of losses this fiscal year, is now making preparations to apply for a public fund infusion, Japanese business daily Nikkei reported Tuesday.

NEC Electronics Corp. and Renesas Technology Corp. are also expected to consider taking action if their planned merger next April goes through as expected, the report said.

In Tokyo, Elpida shares closed up 1.4 percent, and NEC Electronics gained 4.2 percent. But Pioneer shed 1 percent.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Average rose 1.8 percent.

Lisa Twaronite reports for MarketWatch from Tokyo.

DSO highlights Dubai’s dynamic business environment during Japan visit

DUBAI, UAE: The Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), the regulatory body for the region’s leading high-technology park, today announced a high-ranking delegation held a five-day visit to Japan to meet with top officials and highlight the business potential of Dubai, particularly the investor-friendly environment of Dubai Silicon Oasis.

Led by Dr. Mohammed Al Zarouni, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, the delegation officials met with the Tsunehiro Ogawa, Director General-International Trade Policy from the Ministry of External Trade and Industry (METI), and the Yasuhiro Yamada, Executive Vice-President of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), as well as CEOs of leading Japanese corporations operating in the field of Semiconductor and Microelectronics industry. Discussions focused on the possibility of establishing business ties as well as exchanging views on a wide range of issues of mutual interest.Dr. Mohammed Al Zarouni with H.E Tsunehiro Ogawa-Director General, International Trade Policy from the Ministry of External Trade & Industry (METI).

Commenting on this visit, Dr. Al Zarouni said: "Dubai is already seen as a gateway to the Middle East and North Africa region. This is why we are keen to engage major Japanese firms in a dialogue that will lead to partnerships with DSO. Our talks specifically highlighted the advantages that DSO offers as a destination for Japanese firms to set up their regional base.

“The UAE is already one of the most IT enabled societies with a high degree of technology adaptation in the region. We believe the visit will further consolidate the existing synergy between technology companies in Japan and DSO and take our business ties to the next growth phase.”

Dr. Al Zarouni and the delegation also met with CEOs of leading Japanese corporations operating in the field of advanced technology, and briefed them on the investment opportunities that DSO offers.

The state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities in Dubai in general and DSO in particular, which are specifically tailored to host technology companies, were also highlighted. The DSOA delegation additionally held discussions with senior officials of reputed banks and financial institutions that could support companies seeking to operate out of DSO.

The delegation later called on His Excellency Saeed Ali Al-Nowais, the UAE Ambassador in Japan. The diplomat expressed his willingness to facilitate all communication channels between the UAE and the Japanese companies planning to commence their operations in DSO and promote the investment opportunities in DSO especially for companies operating in the Semiconductor and Microelectronics industry. Dr. Al Zarouni also commended the role the UAE Ambassador is playing in strengthening the
bilateral trade between both countries.

DSO is a free zone technology park for semiconductors, microelectronics and other high technology-based companies looking to set up their regional headquarters and R&D facilities in the Middle East and North Africa region. DSOA is the regulatory body for DSO, the region’s premier integrated innovations hub for high-tech industries.

Axcelis, Applied Materials in strategic service agreement for Japan

BEVERLY & SANTA CLARA, USA: Axcelis Technologies Inc. and Applied Materials, Inc. have announced a strategic agreement making Applied the exclusive service provider for Axcelis semiconductor processing systems in Japan.

This program will enable Axcelis' customers to utilize Applied's extensive support infrastructure in Japan to optimize the performance and productivity of Axcelis process systems.

"We are pleased to join with Applied Materials, a company widely recognized for its outstanding service capabilities," said Mary Puma, chairman and CEO of Axcelis Technologies. "This agreement will allow Axcelis to assure the highest level of satisfaction for our present and future customers in Japan. It will also enable us to focus on our key strength -- delivering world-class manufacturing technology to the semiconductor industry."

"With expert service teams already in place in virtually every semiconductor fab, Applied is committed to providing Axcelis and its customers with the same world-class service that has gained us the respect and trust of semiconductor manufacturers worldwide," said Manfred Kerschbaum, senior vice president and general manager of Applied Global Services. "Our leading-edge service solutions can easily be expanded to non-Applied tools to simplify manufacturing operations, raise efficiency and reduce waste in the fab. We believe this program can serve as a model for the future: combining both companies' strengths for the benefit of our mutual customers."

Under the agreement, Applied will offer a comprehensive portfolio of service programs for Axcelis ion implantation, rapid thermal processing, curing and cleaning systems in Japan. Using a wide range of engineering and logistics technologies including Applied's ExpertConnect remote diagnostic capability, local and internationally located Applied certified engineers will provide preventive and corrective maintenance, spare parts management, parts cleaning and coating, and analytical services.

No escape for global chip suppliers in miserable Q1

EL SEGUNDO, USA: From Paris to Tokyo, from the biggest broad-line suppliers to the most modest boutiques, from high-fliers serving hot markets to low-profile players plodding away in slow-growth segments -- virtually no semiconductor company was immune from the miserable conditions in the global semiconductor industry during the first quarter, according to iSuppli Corp.

Semiconductor Revenue Change by Company Headquarters Region/CountrySource: iSuppli Corp., June 2009

Worldwide semiconductor revenue in the first quarter declined to $44.3 billion, down 18.8 percent from $54.5 billion in the fourth quarter, and a decline of 33.8 percent from $66.8 billion in the first quarter of 2008. Revenue was down 36.2 percent from the start of the present sharp downturn in the third quarter of 2008.

Even prior to the downturn, the semiconductor industry experienced an extended period of lethargy. Quarterly semiconductor revenue peaked six quarters ago in the third quarter of 2007.

“Of the 130+ semiconductor suppliers tracked by iSuppli on a quarterly basis, only six managed to expand their revenue in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2008,” said Dale Ford, senior vice president, market intelligence, for iSuppli. “Even among these six suppliers, four increased their revenue by only 1 to 3 percent.”

Meanwhile, every major region of the world suffered double-digit percentage declines in semiconductor revenue in the first quarter compared to the fourth.

Semiconductor Suppliers with Positive Quarterly Revenue GrowthSource: iSuppli Corp., June 2009

“Although the first quarter is typically weak for the global semiconductor industry, the sharp declines in semiconductor during that period and in the fourth quarter of 2008 reflect the impact of the global economic downturn on the worldwide chip business,” Ford observed.

Regional variations
Despite the negative picture, some regions were not as badly impacted as others.
Companies headquartered in the Americas fared the best during the downturn, with a combined revenue decline in U.S. dollars of 30.8 percent since the third quarter of 2008.

European-headquartered companies suffered the worst decline, with their combined revenues falling by 44.5 percent during the same period. Japanese suppliers fared nearly as badly as their European counterparts, suffering a contraction of 43.5 percent.

However, the picture is very different if company revenues are maintained in the local currency and not converted to US. dollars. Changes in currency exchange rates have a notable impact on revenue growth when converted to a common dollar basis. European supplier revenues fell by only 36.1 percent since the third quarter of 2008 if their revenues are measured in euros.

On the other hand, Japanese company revenues fell by nearly 51 percent during the same time if their revenues are measured in yen.

Korean and Taiwanese suppliers saw steep revenue declines between the third and fourth quarters of 2008 followed by much more moderate declines between the fourth and first quarters. In contrast, Japanese companies suffered the biggest hit on revenues in the first quarter of 2009 when their combined revenues fell by nearly 31 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2008.

The bright side
On a positive note, iSuppli’s latest semiconductor forecast predicts that the first quarter of 2009 will represent the bottom of the semiconductor market decline and that revenues in the fourth quarter of 2009 will exceed those in the fourth quarter of 2008.

On a sequential basis, revenue will rise by 7.1 percent in the second quarter, by 10.4 percent in the third quarter and by 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
Looking back at the first quarter, there was one notable performance among all the suppliers—that of Taiwan’s MediaTek Inc. The company in the first quarter expanded its revenue by 10 percent on both a sequential and year-over-year basis.

The images present quarterly semiconductor revenue changes by region, semiconductor suppliers that managed positive quarterly revenue growth in the first quarter, and historical and forecast quarterly semiconductor revenues.

Worldwide Quarterly Semiconductor Revenues (Billions of Dollars)Source: iSuppli Corp., June 2009

LogicVision, Toppan and Syswave ally for design, DFT and test services in Japan

TOKYO, JAPAN: LogicVision Inc. , a leading worldwide provider of semiconductor built-in-self-test (BIST) and diagnostic solutions, has signed of a three-way agreement with Toppan Ltd. and Syswave Corp. for turnkey design and test services.

As designs continue to grow and become more complex, there is significant benefit to providing customers with a near turn-key solution. This team -- LogicVision, Toppan, and Syswave -- will integrate as well as provide back-end debug and manufacturing test support of advanced BIST solutions for complex designs.

In this three-way arrangement, Toppan will integrate and verify LogicVision's BIST IP into customer designs while Syswave will provide support in using these BIST capabilities during debug and manufacturing test. This business collaboration will provide added value to each of the three companies' mutual customers by providing a one-stop integrated strategy for device development and test.

"One of the greatest challenges facing Japan semiconductor manufacturers today is achieving acceptable product quality levels while minimizing escalating test costs," said Shin Kimura, VP and managing Director of LogicVision, Japan. "This is especially true as the industry moves to 65nm and 45nm process geometries and beyond. With this relationship, we will be able to help our customers achieve the desired quality at an affordable price."

"I am sure this collaboration will attract many customers, especially those with advanced SOCs," said Isao Suzuki, General Manager of Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. "It is a common headache for everybody developing a complicated LSI design to have a complete testing solution, without anxiety, as technology migrates into deep submicron and densities become huge. With this collaboration, our customers will be very happy with all of the solutions we provide that meet every possible need for design implementation and, of course, testing. As one of the largest Design and Turn Key service providers in Japan, we, Toppan, can provide extensive service from the early stages of design all the way to mass production. I can assure that our expertise regarding BIST IP will satisfy any customer."

"This alliance is incredibly exciting to me. It will resolve existing testing problems dramatically," said Tetsuo Onikura, President & CEO of Syswave. "This relationship will contribute to not only Japanese semiconductor manufacturers but also their customers. Moving forward to 45nm and beyond, we expect that testing efficiency will decrease resulting in cost increases. LogicVision's outstanding solutions will resolve these issues. Syswave's test engineering capability will empower these solutions within the Japanese semiconductor testing market."

Freescale to close fabs Japan and France?

AUSTIN, USA: Freescale Semiconductor announced financial results for the first quarter ended April 3, 2009.

Highlights for the first quarter include:

* Net sales of $840 million for the first quarter;
* Trailing 12 month adjusted EBITDA of $1.03 billion;
* Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $1.42 billion at April 3, 2009.

Net sales
Net sales for the first quarter of 2009 were $840 million, compared to $1.41 billion in the first quarter of 2008 and $940 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"Even though our first quarter results were impacted by continued economic and market challenges, we made significant progress on our restructuring initiatives and improvements to our capital structure,” said Rich Beyer, chairman and CEO. “Our plan to reduce our annual operating costs by $600 million is on track, and we reduced our long-term debt by approximately $1.9 billion through the debt exchange.”

Operating results
Net sales for the first quarter of 2009 declined 11 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 and 40 percent compared to the same period last year. During 2008, the company announced that it was exploring strategic options for its cellular handset business and that it had ended its previous contractual supply agreement with Motorola. Excluding sales in its cellular products group, revenues for the company’s remaining businesses declined 15 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 and 31 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008.

The reported loss from operations for the three months ended April 3, 2009 was $351 million, compared to a loss of $152 million in the first quarter of 2008. The adjusted operating loss (defined in Note 1 to the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Information attached to this press release) for the three months ended April 3, 2009 was $140 million compared to earnings of $206 million last year.

Net earnings for the first quarter of 2009 were $1.76 billion. Included in net earnings was a one-time net gain of approximately $2.26 billion as a result of the long-term debt eliminated as part of the debt exchange completed by the company. Upon completion of this transaction, the face amount of the company’s outstanding long-term debt obligations decreased by approximately $1.9 billion and the related expected annual cash interest expense decreased by approximately $140 million.

Adjusted EBITDA for the 12 months ended April 3, 2009 was $1.03 billion.

A description of Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted operating earnings/loss and the reconciliations to our GAAP results are included in the tables and notes attached to this press release.

Product revenues
The company’s net sales figures for the first quarter of 2009 are as follows:

* Microcontroller net sales were $246 million in the first quarter of 2009, compared to $304 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 and $458 million in the first quarter of 2008.
* RF, Analog and Sensor net sales were $184 million in the first quarter of 2009, compared to $232 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 and $259 million in the first quarter of 2008.
* Networking and multimedia net sales were $228 million in the first quarter of 2009, compared to $273 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 and $269 million in the first quarter of 2008.
* Cellular net sales were $95 million in the first quarter of 2009, compared to $64 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 and $318 million in the first quarter of 2008.
* Other net sales were $87 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared to $67 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 and $101 million in the first quarter of 2008.

Business restructuring
The company recently initiated actions to complete the exit of the cellular handset business. These actions encompass employment reductions with certain severance and other exit costs. We anticipate completing these actions by December 31, 2009.

Implementation of this plan and any specific employment actions are subject to satisfaction of legal requirements, including prior consultation on the plan with work councils in some of the countries in which we operate. Severance related charges for these actions are estimated to be approximately $70 million.

As previously reported, the Company is implementing a series of restructuring actions to streamline its cost structure, reduce its breakeven and re-direct some research and development investments into growth markets.

Total severance and related cash requirements associated with these actions, inclusive of the costs associated with completing the exit of the cellular handset business detailed above, total approximately $270 million with corresponding annualized savings of approximately $700 million realized by 2010.

Future manufacturing roadmap
In order to remain competitive and maintain an efficient manufacturing footprint, the company announced today that it is initiating a series of actions to eliminate its 150mm manufacturing capability. These actions will result in the closure of the company’s Sendai, Japan fabrication facility.

In addition, the company has initiated a formal consultation with employees at its Toulouse, France facility. The proposal to close the facility will be evaluated through Freescale’s Toulouse Work Council. These actions are expected to be completed by the end of 2011 with severance costs anticipated at approximately $200 million with ongoing annual cost savings of approximately $100 million upon completion.

Financial position
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $1.42 billion on April 3, 2009, compared to $1.39 billion on December 31, 2008.

Seeking jobs in embedded! Can anyone help?

Ever since I have blogged about embedded companies in India, I've received a few messages, regarding jobs in the embedded segment in India. Some others have dropped hints about companies who haven't made my list!

It seems the companies are not hiring, or they've put hiring on freeze. Does it mean that not many projects are going on currently? Or, is there a way for freshers to make a start somewhere? For starters, those who want their companies listed in any top 10 list, are they even trying to help freshers or those looking for better jobs in the embedded space? What is their policy for hiring?

Or, are they too dependent on design services, so much that they do not have enough products to work on or develop! Or, maybe, they don't have many ongoing projects? I have had so many people tell me "India should do product development in semiconductors!" So, is that really happening? Or, is it merely a statement?

I did come across this web site called Dev Seeker, which is said to list jobs in embedded. DevSeeker also has a page that lists some of the embedded companies in India.

I also came across a blog on Monster, which lists several posts from some freshers, as well as some others who have actually asked folks to send in their resumes.

There is another web site from KBS Consultants, which has listed some jobs in the embedded segment. Another site, called GotAChance, also has links to jobs in the embedded space. Another search led me to a site called ITJobs.

By the way, I've no way of knowing whether any of the sites are updated, or, if they are, how frequently are those getting updated with the latest information. Sincerely hope that all of these sites are getting updated frequently!

Whenever I speak with semiconductor professionals, they don't stop raving about India's might in embedded. If that's the case, why are so many talented people not being able to find jobs? Or even worse, how do freshers get to make a start? I am not sure if companies offer freelance work for embedded software engineers. However, it is an option that could be considered.

There are several companies in China and Japan who are seeking fresh and good talent in the embedded space. A Japanese delegation visited India last August for the India-Fukuoka (Japan) IT, Embedded Software and Semiconductor Business Workshop 2008. Some of companies are:

* Daichi Institution Industry Co. Ltd
* DISCO (Dai Ichi Seitosho Co. Ltd) Corp.
* Inoueki Co. Ltd
* JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization)
* Kyushu Economic Research Center
* CLAIR (The Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations), Singapore

Prior to that, last May, the India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and the UK Trade & Investment and Science & Innovation Network launched a study titled "Scope for collaboration between India and the UK in semiconductor driven industry 2008.

I am also aware that China and Taiwan require lot of talent in embedded software and systems. They can surely make use of the talent available in India.

I am sure that all of these folks would be able to help out at least some of those looking to make a career in embedded systems and software. Otherwise, what's the end result of making such trips to India and talking about India's talent in embedded! Freshers need to make a start somewhere, so please help as many as possible.

To all of those freshers starting out to make a career, try and get the relevant experience, and the money will follow. Do not pursue it the other way round.

This is a request to the global embedded systems and software fraternity -- there are quite a lot of talented and fresh engineers in India in the embedded systems and software segment, who are also seeking jobs. Give them, or at least, some of them, a chance! Can you kindly help them?

Top 10 captivating moments in Indian semicon during 2008

Yes, the time has come for all of us to say goodbye to this year. It has been a very captivating year for the Indian semiconductor industry. Some consider it to be a year the industry came of age, while some others would look at the year as one where fab promises failed India.

Nevertheless, as I've maintained, having or not having a fab won't affect India very much as its traditional strengths have been in embedded and design services.

There have been several moments during the year that I personally savor. In fact, I have either witnessed most of those or written/blogged about them.

The top 10 captivating moments in Indian semiconductors during 2008, according to me, are:

1. S. Janakiraman, former chairman, ISA, declared before the world, in May at Dubai, during the IEF 2008, about India's growing strength in global telecom.

2. Growing interest in the solar photovoltaic industry in India, and subsequent proposals made by various companies, including Reliance.

3. EDA companies, such as Magma and also Synopsys, making their entry, or at least, intentions known, in the solar/PV industry.

4. Intel's new chip, designed largely in Bangalore, and of course, the Intel Developer Forum in Taipei, Taiwan.

5. Visit of a strong Japanese delegation to Bangalore, which showed remarkable keenness regarding possible investments in India.

6. BV Naidu quitting SemIndia, and putting in doubt India's fab story. Well, that's a different story, and one person's exit would not mean much to such a large industry.

7. ISA Excite, and the minister announcing that Karnataka could have its own semiconductor policy. The policy should be out in the new year, hopefully.

8. AMD's new chip, the Shanghai, which again, had a lot of involvement from AMD's Bangalore team.

9. NXP India achieving RF CMOS in a single chip. The entire analog and RF work was done in Bangalore, India.

10. Go parallel or perish, said James Reinders, of Intel! Parallelism or parallel computing involves the simultaneous use of more than one computer or processor to execute a program.

I was also present during the launch of Synopsys' Galaxy Custom Designer, which tackles the analog mixed-signal (AMS) challenges. It would occupy a joint 10th position.

There may have been some other moments as well! Would like to hear from all of you what are those other great times in India semiconductor industry during 2008!

90pc fab investments for 300mm capacity: SEMI

Recently, SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) released its World Fab Forecast report. This report mentions that projected decline in world semiconductor fab equipment spending of 20 percent is likely for 2008. However, a rebound of over 20 percent in spending is expected in 2009, driven by over 70 fab projects.

The August 2008 edition of this report lists 53 fab equipping projects and up to 21 construction projects for fabs in 2009. It is sincerely hoped that at least one of the fabs likely from the Southeast Asian region is from India!

With the help of Scott Smith Senior Manager, Public Relations, SEMI, I was able to get in touch with Christian Gregor Dieseldorff, Senior Manager of Fab Information and Analysis at SEMI, in an attempt to find out more about the decline in global fab spends, these new fabs, and how these fabs can lead a turnaround in the global semiconductor industry. Thanks Scott!

So what are the chief reasons for the decline in fab spends during 2008? According to Dieseldorff, given the weaker economic conditions globally, coupled with higher energy and commodity prices and the financial crisis, the overall outlook for semiconductor growth in 2008 is for low-single digit growth in both revenues and units. As such, device makers have responded by cutting back their capital spending and pushing out fab projects or putting them on hold.

I was keen to find out the geographic breakup of these 70 new fabs that are likely yo come up in 2009.

Dieseldorff advised that these are not 70 new fabs coming up in 2009. Rather, the numbers reflect 300mm fabs only, and is a mix of on-going and new projects for fabs equipping and fab construction projects in 2009.

For equipping 300mm fabs, SEMI expects about: Americas 8, China 5, Europe and Mideast 4, Japan 7, South Korea 11, SE Asia 3 and Taiwan 15.

For 300mm fab construction projects, SEMI expects about: Americas 3, China 2, Europe and Mideast 1, Japan 2, South Korea 3, SE Asia 2 and Taiwan 8.

What are the salient features of some of these new fabs likely to come up next year (for instance, new tech nodes)? Dieseldorff highlighted that about 90 percent of the investments are for 300mm capacity, and the amount of spending for advanced nodes, such as 65nm, is increasing.

"Also, device makers are building larger fabs, which are termed "mega fabs," so, to potentially realize a greater return based on scales of economy," he added.

How will these new fabs contribute to a better performance from the global semicon industry? This will be quite interesting to witness.

Dieseldorff said that over the past several years, demand for semiconductor devices has been quite strong, and so, the industry has had to bring on capacity to support this need, both in terms of needed capacity and technology. Even with the slower market growth in 2008, recent industry data shows healthy levels of fab capacity utilization, especially for the advanced technology generations and for 300mm manufacturing.

He added: "The expectation is that demand for semiconductors will strengthen once global economic conditions improve. So, the capacity addition that is coming online this year and the fab projects that are equipping and beginning construction in 2009 are necessary to meet the future demand."

So how will all of this affect the overall memory market (e.g., 42pc increase in share for memory)? Dieseldorff shared his thought, a fact, known well to those in the semiconductor industry, that the memory market has been battered by declining average selling prices and a condition termed by some as "profitless prosperity."

"Looking at demand forecasts specific to memory, tremendous growth is anticipated," he forecasted.

However, the manufacturers in this device segment are battling it out for market share, and the general expectation is that consolidation will continue.

Also, joint-ventures and partnerships are becoming increasingly critical in the memory sector as manufacturers seek to leverage their existing resources to meet future technology and capacity requirements.

It would be interesting to find out why Taiwan and Korea are forecasted as likely to exceed Japan in fab spend?

According to Dieseldorff, in Korea, Samsung has been and is the key spender, and as a company, it will continue to invest so to have a dominant share in the memory sector.

He said: "In 2009, our expectation is for the DRAM manufacturers in Taiwan to boost spending after cutting back this year. We expect seven new 300 mm fab lines in Taiwan to come into production over the next two years."

However, spending in Japan has been more measured and is likely to remain so. Toshiba, and its joint-venture partner, Sandisk are the big spenders in Japan, when it comes to new fab capacity. Other Japanese semiconductor manufacturers are more cautious and are focused more on technology spending.

What India brings to the table for semicon world! And, for Japan

This semicon blog's title has been inspired by some queries, largely from friends in Japan, who are looking at the Indian semiconductor market. The topic of great global (and Japanese) interest is: What does India bring to the table for the semicon world to go to India!

Interesting! The world has been keenly following the Indian semiconductor and fab policy, and can gather a lot of information off my blog itself! For those who'd like to know it all again in specifics, here we go again!

Indian semicon and fab policy
Around September last year, the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communication and IT, Government of India, came up with the Special Incentive Package Scheme (SIPS) to encourage investments for setting up semicon fabs, and other micro and nanotechnology manufacturing industries in India!

The "ecosystem units" have been clearly defined as units, other than a fab unit, for manufacture of semiconductors, displays, including LCDs, OLEDs, PDPs, any other emerging displays; storage devices; solar cells; photovoltaics; other advanced micro and nanotechnology products; and assembly and test of all the above products.

What has happened since?
Lots! Initially, there were two major proposals from HSMC and SemIndia for setting up wafer IC fabs. While those haven't really taken off yet, more investments have since happened in India.

Quite recently, the Indian semiconductor and fab policy attracted 12 major proposals, worth a whopping Rs. 93,000 crores! The Department of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India, has set up a panel of technical experts to evaluate these proposals.

Ten (10) of these proposals are for solar/PV. One is for a semiconductor wafer -- from Reliance Industries worth Rs. 18,521 crores, and another for TFT LCD flat panels -- from Videocon Industries, worth Rs. 8,000 crores.

The 10 proposals for solar/PV are from: KSK Surya (Rs. 3,211 crores), Lanco Solar (Rs. 12,938 crores), PV Technologies India (Rs. 6,000 crores), Phoenix Solar India (Rs. 1,200 crores), Reliance Industries (Rs. 11,631 crores), Signet Solar Inc. (Rs. 9,672 crores), Solar Semiconductor (Rs. 11,821 crores), TF Solar Power (Rs. 2,348 crores), Tata BP Solar India (Rs. 1,692.80 crores), and Titan Energy System (Rs. 5,880.58 crores). This is as far the latest developments are concerned!

Solar fabs have also been announced earlier by leading firms such as Videocon, Reliance and Moser Baer, etc. (Two of them are figuring here again!) There are also talks about developing solar farms in India, which is good.

What are India's strengths?
The clear strengths of the Indian semiconductor industry are embedded and design services! We are NOT YET into product development, but one sincerely hopes that it gathers pace.

The market drivers in India are mobile phone services, IT services/BPO, automobiles and IT hardware. India is also very strong in design tools, system architecture and VLSI design, has quite strong IP protection laws, and is reasonably strong in concept/innovation in semiconductors.

Testing and packaging are in a nascent stage. India will certainly have more of ATMP facilities. Nearly every single semicon giant has an India presence! That should indicate the amount of interest the outside world has on India. In fact, I am told, some key decisions are now made out of the Bangalore based outfits!

Electronics manufacturing
In the electronics manufacturing domain, India's strength lies in hardware, embedded software and industrial design, OEMs, component distribution (includes semiconductor and box build), and end user/distribution channel, as well as more than moderate strength in product design and manufacturing (ODM, EMS).

India is likely to witness $363 billion of equipment consumption and $155 billion of domestic production by 2015. India's electronic equipment consumption in 2005 was 1.8 percent. It is likely to grow to 5.5 percent in 2010 and 11 percent in 2015, as per a joint study conducted by the ISA and Frost & Sullivan.

The Indian semiconductor TAM (total available market) revenue is likely to grow by 2.5 times while the TM (total market) is likely to double revenues in 2009. The TAM is likely to grow at a CAGR of 35.8 percent and the TM is likely to grow at a CAGR of 26.7 percent, respectively, during the period 2006-09.

Telecom, and IT and office automation are the leading segments in TM and TAM. Consumer segment occupies the third fastest growing area in the TM, and the industrial segment is the third fastest growing area in the TAM.

The major semiconductor categories of interest include microprocessors, analog, memory, discretes and ASICs, while the major end use products include mobile handsets, BTS, desktops, notebooks, set-top boxes and CRT TVs.

India, the embedded superstar!
India's embedded design industry has been going from strength to strength. An IDC-ISA report forecasts the revenues from India's VLSI, board design and embedded software industry to grow to $10.96bn by 2010 from the current $6.08bn in 2007.

India is also focusing on moving up the semiconductor value chain. It is emphasizing on end-to-end product development, investing in IP development, developing India specific products, and partnering with OEMs to understand the market needs. Also, be aware that several leading EMS firms are present in India as well.

What should investors do?
Certainly, invest in India! The Indian semicon policy clearly defines the "ecosystem units." Global manufacturers of displays, including LCDs, OLEDs, PDPs, any other emerging displays; storage devices; including SSDs, solar cells; photovoltaics; other advanced micro and nanotechnology products, should certainly look at investing in India, and consider manufacturing here!

Lots of solar fabs are likely to come up, so there will be a great demand for solar related equipment, chemicals, testing, etc. We hope that one wafer IC fab comes up as well, so there will be opportunity for semicon equipment manufacturers. However, do be prepared to wait as things may not move as fast as some may expect.

There is lot of opportunity for fabless companies and in ATMP as well. There are several Indian firms, small ones, who may be interested in partnering. Some trading companies may find India of interest, especially in the solar/PV and ATMP segments.

Keep an eye on the IT/semicon policies some states, especially, Karnataka have in store. A host of opportunities could become available, once Karnataka comes up with a policy. More states may follow suit!

Well, do contact me in case you need further assistance!

Japan semicon firms seek close ties with India

The India Semiconductor Association (ISA) recently organized the India-Fukuoka (Japan) IT, Embedded Software and Semiconductor Business Workshop 2008. A host of companies and institutes from Fukuoka, Japan participated in the workshop seeking partnerships, alliances, and business in the semiconductor space in India.

My first impression was that all of the Japanese firms present at the workshop are quite interested in the Indian semiconductor market, and especially in the embedded space. Besides, some of them may look at investments, should the opportunity arise. Some of the participants are also looking at the direction fabs are taking in India, besides the solar/PV market.

The participating companies and institutes at the workshop were:

1. Daichi Institution Industry Co. Ltd
2. DISCO (Dai Ichi Seitosho Co. Ltd) Corp.
3. Fukuoka University
4. Fukuoka Industry, Science & Technology Foundation
5. Inoueki Co. Ltd
6. Invest Japan
7. JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization)
8. Kyushu Economic Research Center
9. CLAIR (The Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations), Singapore

Masane Saito, Chief, JETRO, said that the total trade between India and Japan was worth $9.9 billion during 2007, a 25 percent growth. India's strengths included knowledge-based services, high-quality talent, etc. He added that Japan required a lot of embedded systems engineers, perhaps, hinting at Indian engineers and the opportunity that lies ahead of them.

Todd Takaki, Director, Inoueki, clearly highlighted that his company was looking at the manufacturing segment in India. A semiconductor trading company, it delivers chemicals to IC fabs, among others. He added that companies from Japan needed to see the inroads being made in India, both frontend and backend. While Inoueki is also looking at making investments in the country, Takaki stressed the need to have a developed market.

Akihiro Kawaguchi, International Science Technology Co-ordinator, Fukuoka Industry, Science & Technology (IST) Foundation, highlighted the Fukuoka Cluster for advanced system LSI design and development. He also touched upon the Silicon Sea Belt Fukuoka Project, which streches from China, covering South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, right up to Bangalore, India. This belt has the potential of the world's largest semiconductor market (60 percent), emerging car industry market, ever-developing wireless market, and the world's largest population of engineers.

The Fukuoka IST is also part of the Knowledge Cluster Initiative, a national program carried out by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), in co-operation with the local governments.

Dr. Hajime Tomokage, professor, Fukuoka University, touched upon the semiconductor business network via the MAP (microelectronics assembling and packaging) and RTS (reverse trade show) programs.

The Kyushu silicon island has a 6 percent share of the global IC production with over 20 percent raw wafers. SUMCO has four fabs in Kyushu. The silicon island also has 16 fabs, including those of Renesas, Toshiba, Sony, NEC, Yamaha, etc. Overall, it is home to nearly 650 semicon related companies. Kyushu is now looking for Asian customers, and specifically, from India.

Some other features include the national project on SiP (system-in-a-package) and MEMS, which have been place since 2002, as well as the SiPOS (System Integration Platform Organization Standards) platform.

Keiji Honjo, Leader, Product Innovation Sales Group, DISCO Corp., touched about his firm's business. DISCO's activities revolve on: manufacture and sale of precision cutting, grinding and polishing machines; maintenance of precision cutting, grinding and polishing machines; training in the operation and maintenance of precision cutting, grinding and polishing machines; disassembly and recycling of precision cutting, grinding and polishing machines; lease of precision cutting, grinding and polishing machines, and sale of used machines; manufacture and sale of precision diamond abrasive tools; and for-fee processing. It is also seeking business interests in India.

Yutaka Akagawa, Executive Director, Daichi Institution Industry Co. Ltd, said the company is also into 8Gen LCD business. It transfers the glass substrate for the LCDs. The company highlighted Clifter, a device, which carries the wafer cassette, LCD cassette, and so on, vertically, with the holding cleanliness to the clean room on the up-down floor.

Interested Indian companies desirous of tying up with these Japanese companies are welcome to send in their queries.

In my next blog, I will discuss specifically what India brings to the table for the semicon world to go to India, and especially, Japanese companies, since we are on Japan! This is also a request from a friend from the Far East!! I may be a bit inaccurate in my assessment, but I will try my best.

New camps promise exciting times ahead in memory market

The last few weeks of this month witnessed some interesting developments in DRAM. No, there are not signs of a recovery, yet. Instead, the appearance of new DRAM camps, as well as a new memory interface working group, does generate some interest.

However, first, the stats. DRAMeXchange recently reported that the Q1-08 revenues of the branded DRAM makers, impacted by continual low DRAM prices, fell by roughly 5.8 percent compared to Q4-07. Likewise, the contract prices and the spot prices fell 19 percent and 11 percent respectively.

DRAMeXchange further reported that barring Elpida and Powerchip, all other DRAM makers experienced a decline in revenues. Both Elpida and Powerchip witnessed slight increase in their market share during Q1-08.

Categorizing the DRAM industry market share by countries, Japan only increased by 0.9 percent from 13.5 percent to 14.4 percent, as Elpida's revenue increased in Q108. Taiwan's share increased by only 1.1 percent from 13.6 percent to 14.7 percent, as Powerchip gained market share. Korea sustained the same market shares -- 47.2 percent, as in Q4-07.

However, America and Germany lost share. America's share slipped from 13.6 percent to 13 percent, while Germany's share fell from 12.2 percent to 10.8 percent, respectively.

In a recent investor conference, Samsung announced it will increase its Bit Growth Rate from 70 percent to 100 percent, an indication of its desire to continue reigning as a DRAM market leader.

Now, to the really interesting developments. First, Nanya and Micron signed an agreement to create MeiYa Technology Corp., a new DRAM joint venture. One of Nanya's 200mm facility in Taiwan will be upgraded to 300mm starting this year, with the facility going online for production in 2009. Besides MeiYa, Nanya and Micron will co-develop and share future technology.

If this wasn't enough, close on the heels of the Micron-Nanya JV, Elpida Memory and Qimonda AG, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a technology partnership for jointly developing memory chips (DRAMs), and accelerate their roadmap to DRAM products featuring cell sizes of 4F2.

Analysts at DRAMeXchange believe that the Qimonda-Elpida alliance re-shuffles the DRAM competitive landscape. It is also a sign of Qimonda's determination to develop stacked process.

Lastly, ARM, Hynix Semiconductor Inc., LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Silicon Image Inc., Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, and STMicroelectronics announced the formation of a working group, the Serial Port Memory Technology (SPMT), which is committed to creating an open standard for next-generation memory interface technology targeting mobile devices.

SPMT, a first-of-its-kind memory standard for DRAM, is said to enable an extended battery life, bandwidth flexibility, significantly reduced pin count, lower power demand and multiple ports by using a serial interface instead of a parallel interface commonly used in today's memory devices.

Handset vendors have joined the fray as this technology will not only extend battery life, it will allow high-performance media-rich applications as well, that are likely to be the norm on next-generation mobile phones.

Surely, these developments and the emergence of new camps promise some exciting times ahead in the memory market.