Low-k dielectrics to get push by Dow Chemical, US, Taiwan and Japan

Compiled from outside sources; Adam Connors, DigiTimes.com [Monday 8 April 2002]

The process for sub-0.10-micron thin-film, low-resistance (k) material production, stalled under the burden of bad market conditions and slow manufacturing technology advancement, is beginning to achieve acceptance due to a group of key decisions and announcements this past week.

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UMC, Germany’s Micronas in co-op to build flat-panel video controller ICs | DigiTimes

Press release; Adam Connors, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 4 April 2002]

Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) and German consumer electronics IC design firm Micronas have announced that they have successfully developed and reached first-pass success with a new 0.18-micron mixed-mode CMOS video controller chip, soon to be ready for the flat-panel display market that includes LCD and plasma displays.

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Facing revitalized competition, NEC reorganizes its chip divisions

Compiled from outside sources; Adam Connors, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 4 April 2002]

In a tough new competitive landscape, NEC has announced an internal restructuring of its chip divisions following a recent round of chip business mergers by main local rivals Toshiba, Fujitsu, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric. NEC has bucked the merger trend and continues to go it alone, remaining the seventh-largest semiconductor company worldwide.

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ISuppli: Top 30 ranking of semiconductor suppliers shows devastating effects of 2001

Compiled from outside sources; Adam Connors, DigiTimes.com [Friday 29 March 2002]

The annual ranking by supply chain management provider iSuppli of the world’s top semiconductor companies, by sales, vividly documents the beating that the industry took in 2001, with only 27 of the 172 companies covered experiencing revenue growth.

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GSMC, ChipPAC combine for end-to-end assembly and testing

Combined from outside sources; Adam Connors, DigiTimes.com [Wednesday 27 March 2002]

Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (GSMC), scheduled to start operation of its first 8-inch fab based in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in 2003, and ChipPAC, China’s largest end-to-end semiconductor packaging and service foreign investor and manufacturer, announced on March 26 a non-exclusive alliance in preparation for GSMC’s plant coming online.

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Fujitsu, Yonago announce LCD business merger and spin-off

Compiled from outside sources; Adam Connors, DigiTimes.com [Tuesday 26 March 2002]

In a statement to the press, Fujitsu and its wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary Yonago Fujitsu on March 22 announced a reorganization of their LCD businesses. Fujitsu’s operations will be spun off and consolidated with those of Yonago into a new company called Fujitsu Display Technologies.

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Toshiba, Fujitsu in talks to form chip partnership to become second-largest; join semiconductor industry co-op

Combined from outside sources; Adam Connors, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 21 March 2002]

Hot on the heels of Monday’s announcement of the Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric merger of their semiconductor businesses, Toshiba and Fujitsu are reportedly discussing their own merger, according to sources compiled by the March 20 late edition of Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper.

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Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric to merge chip businesses

Press release; Adam Connors, DigiTimes.com [Tuesday 19 March 2002]

Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric reached an agreement on March 18 to integrate their system LSI (large-scale integration) chip businesses and the bulk of their semiconductor operations. The announcement came after the close of the Tokyo share market.

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