Foundries News

• Philips Completes Exit of TSMC Shareholding (Thursday Aug. 14, 2008)
  TSMC today announced that the multi-phased plan for Philips’ exit from its TSMC shareholding, as announced in March 2007, has come to an orderly and successful conclusion.
  
  
• Tower Semiconductor & Jazz Technologies Announce Merger on Track for Closing in September 2008 (Wednesday Aug. 13, 2008)
  Jazz Technologies Stockholders to Vote September 17, 2008; Registration Statement Declared Effective by the SEC
  
  
• TSMC July 2008 Sales Report (Friday Aug. 08, 2008)
  Revenues for January through July 2008 totaled NT$201,694 million, an increase of 22.3 percent compared to the same period in 2007.
  
  
• Tower Semiconductor in Advanced Negotiations for Restructuring Agreement to Significantly Improve Its Balance Sheet and Reduce Its Level of Debt (Friday Aug. 08, 2008)
  Jazz Technologies Merger Is On Track for Closing
  
  
• TSMC Reports Second Quarter EPS of NT$1.12 (Thursday Jul. 31, 2008)
  Year-over-year, second quarter revenue increased 17.6% while net income and diluted EPS increased 12.9% and 16.3%, respectively.
  
  
• Commentary: Losing patience with SMIC (Wednesday Jul. 30, 2008)
  Based on the tone of this week's conference call with industry analysts, the analyst community is simply running out of patience with China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC).
  
  
• Chartered Reports Results for Second Quarter 2008 (Friday Jul. 25, 2008)
  Chartered revenues of $457.6 million in 2Q 2008, up 41.1 percent from 2Q 2007 and up 17.9 percent sequentially. Revenues including Chartered’s share of SMP of $482.5 million, up 36.7 percent from 2Q 2007 and up 16.5 percent sequentially.
  
  
• UMC Announces Restructuring of Executive Team (Wednesday Jul. 16, 2008)
  UMC Board of Directors elects Mr. Stan Hung as Chairman and Dr. Shih-Wei Sun as CEO following resignation of Dr. Jackson Hu
  
  
• austriamicrosystems releases High-Voltage IO library offering 4KV ESD protection (Thursday Jul. 10, 2008)
  The new silicon proven H35 periphery library guarantees a 4kV HBM (Human Body Model) ESD protection compliant to the MIL-883E, Method 3015.7 and JEDEC JESD22-A114B ESD standards.
  
  
• TSMC June 2008 Sales Report (Thursday Jul. 10, 2008)
  TSMC today announced its net sales for June 2008: on an unconsolidated basis, sales were NT$28,510 million, a decrease of 1.7 percent from May 2008 and an increase of 12.9 percent over June 2007
  
  
• Panavision Imaging And Tower Semiconductor Announce New Family Of Re-Configurable Linear Image Sensors (Wednesday Jul. 09, 2008)
  The sensors were developed by Panavision using Tower’s Advanced Photo Diode (APD) pixel process and pixel IP, and are to be manufactured in Tower’s 200mm Fab2 in Migdal Ha’emek, Israel.
  
  
• Cypress and Tower Semiconductor Announce Completion of Cypress'’s First 0.18-Micron Stitched Custom CMOS Image Sensor Device (Monday Jul. 07, 2008)
  Tower’s Patented Small-Pixel Stitching Technology to Manufacture High End Application
  
  
• TSMC Material Information (Thursday Jul. 03, 2008)
  TSMC Material Information
  
  
• Tower Semiconductor to Launch Volume Production of QuickLogic's ArcticLink II VX Solution Platforms for Mobile Display Devices (Monday Jun. 30, 2008)
  QuickLogic and Tower Semiconductor announced today that they entered into an agreement to manufacture volume production of QuickLogic's next-generation ArcticLink II VX solution platforms, expected to start during Q3 2008.
  
  
• Tower Semiconductor Chosen as Strategic Supplier for a Select Portfolio of CMOS Products by ON Semiconductor (Monday Jun. 23, 2008)
  Tower and ON Semiconductor are to jointly develop new, best in class, manufacturing technology platforms, leveraging each company's core expertise to achieve a highly competitive, cost-effective product offering. These products are to be manufactured in Tower's Fab1 facility.
  
  
• UMC tips roadmap, questions 450-mm (Wednesday Jun. 11, 2008)
  At DAC, Taiwan foundry provider United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) outlined its process roadmap and announced several alliances with the EDA community.
  
  
• TSMC May 2008 Sales Report (Tuesday Jun. 10, 2008)
  Revenues for January through May 2008 totaled NT$142,314 million, an increase of 28.3 percent compared to the same period in 2007.
  
  
• TSMC Unified DFM Architecture Promises Improved Yields and Accelerated Time-to-Market (Monday Jun. 09, 2008)
  The newly-created UDFM provides a unified, encapsulated access to TSMC foundry data and was developed in collaboration with EDA vendors and other design infrastructure partners. The TSMC UDFM is also one of the key collaborative components of the company’s recently unveiled Open Innovation Platform™.
  
  
• Chartered Invests in Design Services Firm (Monday Jun. 09, 2008)
  Chartered today announced it has made a strategic investment in SOCLE Technology Corporation, a Taiwan-based firm specializing in system-on-chip (SoC) design services and embedded platforms.
  
  
• New TSMC Reference Flow 9.0 Supports 40nm Process Technology (Tuesday Jun. 03, 2008)
  TSMC today introduced Reference Flow 9.0, the latest version of TSMC’s industry-leading design methodology to lower design obstacles, improve design margins, and increase yields of its 40nm process technology.
  
  
• Dongbu HiTek Launches Industry's First 0.18-micron BCDMOS Process (Tuesday Jun. 03, 2008)
  New process integrates analog, logic and high-voltage functions to reduce size of typical BCDMOS system-on-chip solutions by up to 60 percent
  
  
• Tower Semiconductor Implements Cost Reduction Plan (Thursday May. 29, 2008)
  Tower Semiconductor today commenced the first steps of the recently announced $40 million per annum cost reduction plan. Tower continues to place strong focus on cost efficiencies in order to better withstand the continuous decline in the US dollar/NIS exchange rate, foundry wafer price pressures and the overall worldwide economy.
  
  
• Tower Semiconductor to Acquire Jazz Technologies (Tuesday May. 20, 2008)
  Tower Semiconductor and Jazz Technologies today announced the signing of a definitive agreement by which Tower will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Jazz in a stock-for-stock transaction valuing Jazz at a fully diluted equity value of approximately $40 million, based on Tower’s closing price on NASDAQ on May 19, 2008.
  
  
• UMC and Mentor Graphics Introduce Foundry Design Kits (FDK) for Mixed-Mode and RF Technologies (Tuesday May. 13, 2008)
  The FDKs, containing comprehensive and validated building blocks at the transistor device level, help IC designers to jump-start design cycles on UMC’s 0.13um and 90nm MM/RF process nodes.
  
  
• TSMC April 2008 Sales Report (Friday May. 09, 2008)
  TSMC today announced its net sales for April 2008: on an unconsolidated basis, sales were NT$28,094 million, an increase of 5.8 percent over March 2008 and an increase of 24.8 percent over April 2007.
  
  
• Intel, Samsung Electronics and TSMC Reach Agreement for 450mm Wafer Manufacturing Transition (Tuesday May. 06, 2008)
  Intel, Samsung Electronics and TSMC today announced they have reached agreement on the need for industry-wide collaboration to target a transition to larger, 450mm-sized wafers starting in 2012
  
  
• SMIC and Amlogic in Commercial Production of 90nm Digital Photo Frame Chip (Thursday Apr. 24, 2008)
  The chip, used in the fast-growing digital photo frame market, is the most integrated multimedia SOC on the market. It supports multiple video and photo format decoding and integrated numerous advanced peripherals like high-speed USB and LCD controls.
  
  
• TSMC Unveils New 40/65-Nanometer SPICE Tool Qualification Program (Tuesday Apr. 22, 2008)
  Targeting TSMC’s 65-, 40-nanometer (nm) and smaller geometry process technologies, the program’s benefits include improved device model accuracy, enhanced simulation efficiency, and compatibility across a wide selection of qualified SPICE simulators.
  
  
• Winbond Electronics Corporation and Qimonda AG Announce New Agreement for 65 nanometer Buried Wordline Technology Transfer (Tuesday Apr. 22, 2008)
  The agreement, referring to a new DRAM technology roadmap unveiled by Qimonda, will replace the existing contract of 58nm DRAM trench technology transfer between the two companies.
  
  
• Tower Semiconductor Announces that Jazz Technologies Set August 8, 2008 as the Record Date for a Special Meeting of Stockholders to Vote On and Approve the Merger with Tower (Friday Jul. 31, 1998)
  Jazz Technologies set the record date in connection with Tower and Jazz joint press release dated May 19, 2008, announcing that Tower Semiconductor and Jazz Technologies entered into a definitive agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization.