No Sign of 450mm on the Horizon

Dylan McGrath, EETimes
1/13/2017 02:46 PM EST

SAN FRANCISCO--Momentum behind the push to transition the semiconductor industry to 450mm wafers--which seemed substantial just a few short years ago--now appears all but dead, at least for now.

“450 is probably dead for another five to 10 years,” said G. Dan Hutcheson, a veteran semiconductor equipment analyst who is chairman and CEO of VLSI Research Inc. “It may come back, depending on whether there can be consensus among semiconductor equipment companies.”

The Global 450 Consortium (G450C)--a joint R&D program that involved Intel, TSMC, Globalfoundries, IBM, Samsung, the SUNY Polytechnic Institute--quietly wound down its work at the end of last year with member companies concluding that the timing was not right for an optional Phase 2.

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