Chipmakers
Taiwan on Tuesday suffered a blackout after an accident occurred at a gas-fired plant, according to a report from Bloomberg. The outage, which lasted from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., impacted more than 6 million homes and disrupted some IC production on the island, according to the report. Taiwan’s president was criticized for the event, as the government plans to shutter the island’s nuclear plants and cut the use of coal.
Fab equipment
Test handler supplier Cohu is attempting to block the sale of U.S.-based ATE vendor Xcerra to a fund in China, according to the Wall Street Journal. In April, Sino IC Capital and an affiliate,Unic Capital Management, entered into a definitive agreement under which it would acquire Xcerra for $10.25 per share in cash. The deal is worth approximately $580 million. The transaction is subject to a number of conditions. It must obtain antitrust and other regulatory approvals, including from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Applied Materials, which celebrates its fiftieth corporate anniversary on November 10, reported record results in its third quarter ended July 30. Compared to the same period last year, the company grew net sales by 33% to $3.74 billion. “AMAT delivered a good F3Q beat and guided F4Q well above our and the consensus estimates. Demand appears strong in all segments, with semiconductor strength led by NAND and foundry, display strength driven by the OLED ramp and the Gen 10.5 glass build-out, and services growing on a larger installed base and increased service contracts,” said Weston Twigg, an analyst with KeyBanc Capital Markets.
KLA-Tencor has entered into the dedicated reticle blank inspection market. The company has rolled out the new FlashScan reticle blank inspection product line. Using 355nm laser illumination optics, the system can inspect reticle blanks designed for optical or extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.
Photronics, a supplier of photomasks, recently formed a joint mask venture in China. Now, the company has signed another deal in China, this time an investment agreement with the Hefei State High-tech Industry Development Zone, a national-level high-tech zone in China. Under the terms, Photronics will build and operate a facility to engage in the R&D, manufacture and sale of flat-panel display photomasks in China.
Market research
The emerging technologies on the Gartner’s “Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies” revealed that three megatrends will enable businesses to survive and thrive in the digital economy over the next few years. Artificial intelligence (AI) everywhere, transparently immersive experiences and digital platforms are the big trends, according to Gartner.
IC Insights has revised its outlook for 33 main product categories classified by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization. DRAM is the fastest-growing IC product segment this year. Following the DRAM market, the industrial/other special purpose logic segment is projected to grow 32%, according to the firm. So what else is hot and what is cold?
Global DRAM revenue reached a new historical high in the second quarter of 2017, reports DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. “Compared with the first quarter, the undersupply situation was not as severe, and OEM clients in the downstream were able to gradually extend their inventories,” according to the firm.
TrendForce reports that the global notebook shipments for the second quarter registered a sequential quarterly increase of 5.7% and a year-on-year increase of 3.6%, totaling 39.96 million units.