SAN JOSE - Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached $9.4 billion in the first quarter, according to the industry trade group SEMI, up 2.3% from a year ago and 6.5% sequentially. Bookings ($7.25 billion) were down 21% from a year ago and 12% from the fourth quarter.
The data, collected in concert with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan, come from more than 150 equipment companies.
"The
first quarter billings showed some positive momentum over the fourth
quarter of last year, while worldwide bookings for semiconductor
manufacturing equipment are down for the same period," said Stanley T.
Myers, president and CEO of SEMI.
Billings in Korea were up
significantly sequentially, Myers said.
HERNDON, VA - The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) is sponsoring a workshop on tin whiskers as part of IEEE's Electronic Components and Technology Conference on May 31-June 3, in Lake Buena Vista, FL. iNEMI will present the results of its third set of whisker experiments, , which provide additional insight into tin whisker formation and growth.
Presentations will also cover the latest theories regarding the cause and effect of stress formation in tin film, the mechanism by which material moves through the structure, and the causes of whisker growth. In addition, a recently discovered factor in tin whisker generation will be discussed - heavy oxidation or "corrosion" of the tin in humid environments. Data on testing and the impact of oxidation on whisker growth will be covered.
Dr. Henning Leidecker, NASA, will serve as moderator for the workshop. The event is chaired by Ron Gedney, iNEMI consultant, and Maureen Williams, NIST. For a complete agenda:
http://www.inemi.org/cms/calendar/tin_whisker_workshop.html.
In addition to the iNEMI workshop, the ECTC technical program includes a session on solder and tin whiskers (Session #10, Materials & Processing Committee) on June 1.
Online registration is available at
https://www.ec-central.org/conference/ectc/55/doorregistrationform.cfm.
Rochester, NY - EMA Design Automation, a provider of electronic design automation (EDA) solutions, and PartMiner Inc., a provider of electronic components and information services for the electronics industry, announced a partnership to bring together Cadence Design System Inc.'s design technology and PartMiner's CAPS electronic component database.
PartMiner provides a range of services for researching, selecting, locating and procuring electronic components. As part of the partnership, these capabilities are integrated into OrCAD Capture CIS, giving users access to over 47 million components from over 1,900 manufacturers for parametric searching and part validation. This enables part validation at the initial stages of the design cycle and allows life cycle status, such as product change notifications, end of life and RoHS status issues, to be solved at the database level.
"We have a unique method of integrating OrCAD Capture CIS with PartMiner, giving the design engineer immediate access to a content rich environment," said Manny Marcano, president of EMA. "This electronic interface provides instant productivity by the addition of relevant component data into the OrCAD Component Information System (CIS) at the engineer's desktop - RoHS data at the design point. This provides information to the right person at the right time to make the best decision possible."
HORSHAM, PA - Avo Photonics, specialists in RF and optical packaging solutions, has developed a lead-free TEC-to-Package process. The process works for high-quality, high-performance applications, while meeting regulations requiring lead-free electronics components. The process has been qualified and can be used for volume production of assemblies.
The process caters to markets requiring high-end thermoelectric cooler (TEC) packages, used in a variety of telecommunications, medical and military applications (such as lasers, temperature-controlled etalons, high-speed detectors and temperature reference sources).The TEC-to-Package process includes solder bonding the TEC within a non-oxidizing inert gas environment leading to void-free coverage. Said to result in excellent thermal conductivity across the interface and very rugged bond strengths. Includes surface acoustic microscopy (SAM) testing to verify void-free results. For TECs without wirebond posts, Avo trims, forms and simultaneously reflows the solder to bond the TEC leads to the package within the TEC packaging process.
The TEC-to-Package process includes solder bonding the TEC within a non-oxidizing inert gas environment leading to void-free coverage. Said to result in excellent thermal conductivity across the interface and very rugged bond strengths. Includes surface acoustic microscopy (SAM) testing to verify void-free results. For TECs without wirebond posts, Avo trims, forms and simultaneously reflows the solder to bond the TEC leads to the package within the TEC packaging process.The company provides complimentary initial technical consultation and proposals for its TEC-to Package services in as little as 24 hours.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Testifying Tuesday morning before the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, a small manufacturer and National Association of Manufacturers board member advocated successful completion of the ongoing round of World Trade Organization talks and reported that, "In many ways, smaller firms probably need the WTO system even more than large firms."
Dwight F. "Dyke" Messinger, president and CEO of Power Curbers, Inc. of Salisbury, NC, employs more than 100 people in the manufacture of curbing and paving machines.
Emphasizing that his company exports to more than 70 countries and that small and medium-size companies account for roughly 30% of U.S. exports, Messinger also noted that, "Commerce Department data show that one out of every five manufacturing jobs in the U.S. is directly related to exports."
He explained that current trade costs that result from discriminatory foreign standards, counterfeiting and intellectual property theft, customs clearance and other delays disproportionately affect smaller firms who are less able to pay.
Thanks to WTO rules, continued Messinger, "Barriers have been coming down and small firms like mine have benefited. But, we still face tariffs and trade barriers that are much too high. We could sell more to existing customers and we could find new customers if other countries didn't throw up one barrier after another. The Doha Round of WTO negotiations offers the best opportunity to bring such barriers down.
"Trade liberalization over the years has been a boon to our U.S. manufacturing base as more markets are now open to us than ever before," Messinger said. "The more foreign markets open to us, and the fairer trade is, the more we will sell and the more American workers we'll add to our payrolls."
To assure such progress, "The U.S. must continue its determined, aggressive world leadership on behalf of trade expansion and completion of a Doha Round that includes deep cuts in industrial trade barriers," insisted Messinger. "Accordingly, Congress must vote to renew our WTO membership."
He concluded his testimony with strong support for bilateral free trade agreements: "My company had previously faced duties of 6% in Chile and 5% in Australia. As a result of our FTAs with those countries, we can now export to both countries duty free while our competitors are still paying these duties. American manufacturing strongly believes that passage of CAFTA-DR is in the best interest of the United States."
Messinger's full testimony is posted at: http://www.nam.org/s_nam/bin.asp?CID=169&DID=234131&DOC=FILE.PDF.
WASHINGTON -- The National Association of Manufacturers expressed disappointment today with the Treasury Department's failure to cite China for currency manipulation in its semiannual report to Congress, but noted Treasury's statement that time is running out for China to act.
NAM president John Engler released a statement saying, "We have called for Treasury to cite China for currency manipulation in its report, and of course we are disappointed that did not happen."
But Engler pointed to a statement by Snow during a Treasury news conference this afternoon warning China that, "If current trends continue without substantial alteration, China's policies will likely meet the statute's technical requirements for designation" as a currency manipulator.
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