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IC foundries gearing up for 8-inch fab expansions

Josephine Lien, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 17 December 2014]

China-based IC foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) is looking to expand production capacity at its 8-inch wafer fab in Shenzhen, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics (UMC) both plan to build additional capacity at their 8-inch fabs in China, according to company sources.

The Internet of Things (IOT) is being regarded as the next semiconductor growth opportunity. Major China- and Taiwan-based IC foundries are all gearing up for their 8-inch fab expansions in order to benefit from anticipated growth in semiconductors driven by the IoT.

SMIC has disclosed plans to expand capacity at its Shenzhen fab to 20,000 8-inch wafers monthly by the end of 2015 from 10,000 units in end-2014. Including production capacities at its other 8-inch fabs, SMIC's overall 8-inch fab capacity is set to exceed 150,000 units a month.

Since 2014, TSMC has been ramping up capacity at its Songjiang 8-inch fab in Shanghai. Monthly capacity at the facility has come to nearly 110,000 8-inch wafers from the previous 90,000 units.

UMC has also moved to expand its 8-inch production capacity in China. Subsidiary Hejian Technology will build an additional capacity of 11,000 8-inch wafers bringing its total monthly capacity to nearly 60,000 units.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20141216PD216.html
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S. Korean and Taiwanese Companies Control 56% of Global 300mm Fab Capacity

Vast majority of that wafer capacity is local to those two countries.

18 DEC 2014, by IC Insights

http://www.icinsights.com/data/articles/...ts/742.pdf
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Chip Business Picks Up In Japan

Posted on: December 16th, 2014 - Posted by: Kenji Tsuda

http://semiengineering.com/chip-business...-in-japan/
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Stanford 'high-rise' chip takes on IoT and big data

By layering processing and memory on top of each other, chips 'leap frog' in performance

By Sharon Gaudin

Computerworld | Dec 17, 2014

http://www.infoworld.com/article/2860356...-data.html

(vested)

Bookings for Nov 2014 picked up again compared to Oct 2014 - let's see if the trend would continue for Dec 2014 and into 2015............

(vested)
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North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts November 2014 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.02

SAN JOSE, Calif. — December 18, 2014 — North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.22 billion in orders worldwide in November 2014 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.02, according to the November EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.02 means that $102 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in November 2014 was $1.22 billion. The bookings figure is 10.4 percent higher than the final October 2014 level of $1.10 billion, and is 1.7 percent lower than the November 2013 order level of $1.24 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in November 2014 was $1.19 billion. The billings figure is 0.5 percent higher than the final October 2014 level of $1.18 billion, and is 6.8 percent higher than the November 2013 billings level of $1.11 billion.

“With the rise in bookings, the book-to-bill ratio climbed above parity in November,” said SEMI president and CEO Denny McGuirk. “2014 has been a solid growth year for the semiconductor equipment market and we expect the foundry and memory sector to continue leading investments in 2015.”

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars

Billings (3-mo. avg)
Bookings (3-mo. avg)
Book-to-Bill

June 2014
1,327.5 (9.7% HIGHER than June 2013 billing of USD 1.21 billion)
1,455.0 (9.4% HIGHER than June 2013 booking of USD 1.33 billion)
1.10

July 2014
1,319.1 (9.9% HIGHER than July 2013 billing of USD 1.20 billion)
1,417.1 (17.1% HIGHER than July 2013 booking of USD 1.21 billion)
1.07

Aug 2014
1,293.4 (19.5% HIGHER than August 2013 billing of USD 1.08 billion)
1,346.1 (26.5% HIGHER than August 2013 booking of USD 1.06 billion)
1.04

Sep 2014 (Final)
1,256.5 (23.4% HIGHER than Sept 2013 billing of USD 1.02 billion)
1,186.2 (19.8% HIGHER than Sept 2013 booking of USD 0.99 billion)
0.94

Oct 2014 (final)
1,184.2 (10.6% HIGHER than Oct 2013 billing of USD 1.07 billion)
1,102.3 (1.9% LOWER than Oct 2013 booking of USD 1.12 billion)
0.93

Nov 2014 (prelim)
1,189.8 (6.8% HIGHER than Nov 2013 billing of USD 1.11 billion)
1,217.1 (1.7% LOWER than Nov 2013 booking of USD 1.24 billion)
1.02

Greetings and a very good day to all.

Have been reading a few of the postings on UMS Holdings and came across Moore's Law in a separate reading recently.

Was wondering if Moore's Law and the semiconductor industry are closely correlated and if yes, is the concept useful in gauging / predicting the cyclical semiconductor industry? Or, is it too simplistic to gauge or predict just basing on Moore's Law alone?

Many thanks in advance for the insights

Moores law is reaching its limit liao. Unless chipmakers invent some new technology thats cost efficient, it will be impossible to double the transistors to follow that law in 2 years.

via Galaxy Tab S with Tapatalk

Dear BlueKelah, thanks for the response and pointers.

Will take that into my consideration if I were to read further.

One should look beyond "Moore's Law" - but it is a big topic - ITRS has roadmaps showing where the industry is heading...............

Try googling

"More Moore"
"More than Moore"
"ITRS - More than Moore"

(22-12-2014, 11:05 PM)Boon Wrote: [ -> ]One should look beyond "Moore's Law" - but it is a big topic - ITRS has roadmaps showing where the industry is heading...............

Try googling

"More Moore"
"More than Moore"
"ITRS - More than Moore"

Dear Boon, thanks for the reply and links.

Will take a look at the links to find out more... looks like there will be lotsa reading for the holidays

Manufacturing Constraint Fears Grow

Posted on: December 18th, 2014 - Posted by: Ed Sperling

The semiconductor industry could become a victim of its own success. With so many semiconductors being consumed inside of cars, home electronics and industry, capacity shortages are beginning to surface in some areas.....................................................

http://semiengineering.com/manufacturing...ears-grow/

(vested)

Prospects look better now. I sold 2 thirds of my position following a rather disappointing Q3 in October but I doubled my position this week. Not a short term investor but it was too tempting selling after their last set of results...
Anyway it was quite a busy year for UMS shareholders with a lot of volatility following the 6.5c dividends, the bonus share, Andy and AMAT selling shares and finally a disappointing Q3.
May 2015 be more peaceful with no sell from Andy and a 6c dividends!

(vested)

Global Semiconductor Sales Through November Outpace 2013 Sales


November sales increase 9.1 percent compared to last year, decline slightly compared to last month

Published Monday, January 5, 2015

by Dan Rosso

WASHINGTON—Jan. 5, 2015—The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $29.7 billion for the month of November 2014, an increase of 9.1 percent from the November 2013 total of $27.2 billion and a slight decrease of 0.1 percent from the October 2014 total. Year-to-date sales through November are 10 percent higher than they were at the same point in 2013. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.
“Global semiconductor sales through November have matched the total from all of 2013, assuring that the industry will achieve a new record for sales in 2014,” said Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Demand remains strong across nearly all semiconductor product categories, and the Americas and Asia Pacific regional markets continue to post the most robust growth. Macroeconomic trends bode well for continued growth into 2015.”

Regionally, year-to-year sales increased in the Asia Pacific (12.3 percent), the Americas (11.1 percent), and Europe (3.4 percent), but decreased in Japan (-4.5 percent). Sales were up compared to the previous month in the Americas (1.8 percent), but decreased slightly in Asia Pacific (-0.2 percent), Europe (-0.7 percent), and Japan (-2.6 percent). Sales were higher across all regions through November than they were through the same point last year.

http://www.semiconductors.org/news/2015/...013_sales/

November 2014 chart and graph
http://www.semiconductors.org/clientuplo...elease.pdf

(vested)