Foundries News

• SMIC and Cadence Deliver New Analog Mixed-Signal Reference Flow to Speed Fabless Chip Design (Thursday Apr. 13, 2006)
  Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (“SMIC”, NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 0981.HK) today announced that the companies have jointly developed an analog mixed-signal (AMS) reference flow to address the n
  
  
• TSMC March 2006 Sales Report (Monday Apr. 10, 2006)
  TSMC (TAIEX: 2330, NYSE: TSM) today announced that net sales for March 2006 totaled NT$27,107 million. Revenues for the first quarter of 2006 were NT$77,293 million, higher than the first quarter guidance of between NT$73 billion and NT$76 billion.
  
  
• Foundry IPOs are finding a cool reception in China (Monday Apr. 10, 2006)
  In a country that can only produce about 20 percent of the chips it consumes, a foundry IPO should be a cinch. Should be, but isn't. The tepid response to the recent news of an initial public offering by China's leading analog foundry shows just how tough
  
  
• TSMC 65nm Wireless Devices Being Sampled by QUALCOMM; Hot Off TSMC Production Lines, Advanced Devices ''Ring'' for the First Time (Wednesday Apr. 05, 2006)
  TSMC today revealed that QUALCOMM is sampling state-of-the-art wireless devices manufactured on TSMC's 65nm process technology. The news comes two months ahead of schedule, and less than a month after the first devices proved their functionality by actual
  
  
• TSMC: Consumer market, 90-nm driving foundry sales (Friday Mar. 31, 2006)
  The industry's insatiable appetite for consumer electronics and the trend toward 90 and 65-nm process geometries spells good times for the foundry industry, according to Charles Byers, director of worldwide brand management corporate marketing for Taiwan
  
  
• Chartered, IBM and Samsung Announce Availability of DFM Support for Common Platform 65nm Technology (Thursday Mar. 30, 2006)
  Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, International Business Machines Corporation, and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced the availability of design-for-manufacturing (DFM) technology, models, design kits and data files from leading EDA and DF
  
  
• Azul Systems Leverages TSMC 90 nm Process for Next-Generation System (Thursday Mar. 30, 2006)
  Azul Systems, Inc., the industry pioneer in network- attached processing solutions for transaction-intensive applications, today announced that Azul Systems will use TSMC's advanced 90 nm process for its next-generation multicore processor.
  
  
• SMIC tops Chartered in '05 foundry rankings (Saturday Mar. 25, 2006)
  China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) topped Singapore’s Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte. Ltd. for third place in the worldwide silicon foundry rankings in 2005, according to the rankings from Gartner Dataquest Inc
  
  
• State Government of Sarawak Announces Proposed Merger Between 1st Silicon and X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG (Wednesday Mar. 22, 2006)
  The State Government of Sarawak and XTRION N.V. today announced the merger of 1st Silicon and X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG. The combined entity will be named XFAB Silicon Foundries N.V.
  
  
• SMIC Signs Agreement with TTsilicon Ltd to Increase Support for its Fabless Semiconductor Customers in UK and Northern Europe (Wednesday Mar. 15, 2006)
  Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC"; NYSE: SMI and HKSE: 981), one of the world's leading semiconductor foundries, and TTsilicon Limited, a fabless semiconductor company support business, today jointly announced that TTsilicon wi
  
  
• TSMC February 2006 Sales Report (Friday Mar. 10, 2006)
  TSMC (TAIEX: 2330, NYSE: TSM) today announced that net sales for February 2006 totaled NT$24,009 million, a decrease of 8.3 percent over January 2006. Revenues for January through February 2006 were NT$50,187 million
  
  
• UMC's Integrated DFM Solutions Target Today's 90nm SoC Designers (Wednesday Mar. 01, 2006)
  DFM capabilities, including quick yield ramping service, readily available
  
  
• ARM Offers Advantage Physical IP Support For IBM, Chartered And Samsung Common Platform On 65-Nanometer Generic Process (Monday Feb. 27, 2006)
  ARM today announced it is collaborating with IBM, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. to offer the ARM® Advantage™ products, part of its Artisan® family of physical IP, on the 65-nanometer (nm) generic process for the
  
  
• Texas Instruments Releases Advanced ASIC Kits, Extends ASIC Library and Support for Design Tools (Wednesday Feb. 22, 2006)
  exas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced the release of version 5 of the Pyramid ASIC Design Kit, targeting telecommunications, consumer and wireless infrastructure markets. The Pyramid Design System is TI's digital design kit, used
  
  
• TSMC Says Immersion Lithography Nearly Production Ready (Wednesday Feb. 22, 2006)
  Proprietary Techniques Produce Near-Zero Defect Rates
  
  
• X-FAB Offers IP Blocks for RF Designs (Tuesday Feb. 21, 2006)
  Speeds up implementation of RF circuitry into working silicon
  
  
• UMC Fabricates World's Highest Frequency Silicon Circuit Using CMOS - 192-GHz Voltage-Controlled Oscillator; Push-push Voltage-Controlled Oscillator (VCO) designed by the University of Florida reaches 192-GHz Operating Frequency (Tuesday Feb. 21, 2006)
  UMC (NYSE:UMC)(TSE:2303), a world leading semiconductor foundry, today announced that it has fabricated a push-push Voltage-Controlled Oscillator (VCO) with an operating frequency of 192-GHz using its 0.13um RFCMOS process technology
  
  
• Tensilica, Virage Logic and SMIC Partner to Provide Hard Macro Versions of Diamond Standard Processor Cores (Tuesday Feb. 21, 2006)
  Agreement Helps Bring Diamond Standard Processors to China
  
  
• TSMC January 2006 Sales Report (Friday Feb. 10, 2006)
  TSMC January 2006 Sales Report
  
  
• SMIC reports 2005 fourth quarter results (Monday Feb. 06, 2006)
  Sales increased 7.5% in the fourth quarter of 2005 to $333.1 million from $310.0 million in the prior quarter. The Company reported an increase in capacity to 152,219 8-inch equivalent wafers per month and a utilization rate of 93% in the fourth quarter o
  
  
• Tower Semiconductor Reports Positive EBITDA and 51% Quarter Over Quarter Revenue Growth for Q4 2005 (Wednesday Feb. 01, 2006)
  Revenues for the fourth quarter were $31.1 million, an increase of 51% compared to revenues of $20.6 million for the third quarter of 2005, and an increase of $1 million compared to revenues for the fourth quarter of 2004. The 2005 fourth quarter loss was
  
  
• TSMC Reports 17% Sequential Increase in Fourth Quarter Revenue with EPS of NT$1.37 (Thursday Jan. 26, 2006)
  TSMC today announced revenue of NT$81.16 billion, net income of NT$33.9 billion, and fully diluted earnings per share of NT$1.37 per share (US$0.21 per ADS unit) for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2005.
  
  
• CEO interview: with Andre Auberton-Herve of Soitec (Thursday Jan. 19, 2006)
  Peter Clarke interviewed Auberton-Hervé and found him in ebullient mood, after the company had posted its sales figures for the third quarter and first nine months of its financial year. The numbers showed the company reaping the benefit of increasing use
  
  
• TSMC in Production with 80nm Process (Wednesday Jan. 18, 2006)
  Lithographic Shrink Provides Easy Path to Increased Profit for Customers
  
  
• Grace Semiconductor Readies 0.15um+HV for Small Panel Applications (Tuesday Jan. 17, 2006)
  As a result of its lower power consumption and smaller die size, the 0.15um+HV process technology is well suited for high-resolution, one chip solutions, for small panel LCD driver ICs
  
  
• Europractice and UMC Offer 90nm Multi-Project Wafer Prototyping and Production Service (Monday Jan. 16, 2006)
  Europractice brings UMC's 90nm logic and mixed/RF technology within reach of European start-up companies and academia
  
  
• Tower Semiconductor Announces Successful Raising of Approximately $48 Million Through Sales of Convertible Debentures (Sunday Jan. 15, 2006)
  Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE: TSEM), a pure-play independent specialty foundry, today announced that it has successfully completed its previously announced offering of rights, resulting in gross proceeds of approximately $48 million
  
  
• Fujitsu to Construct New Fab for Logic Chips Employing 65nm Process Technology and 300mm Wafers (Wednesday Jan. 11, 2006)
  Second 300mm facility boosts production capacity at Mie semiconductor plant
  
  
• TSMC December 2005 Sales Report (Monday Jan. 09, 2006)
  TSMC (TAIEX: 2330, NYSE: TSM) today announced that net sales for December 2005 totaled NT$27,416 million. Full-year sales for 2005 increased 3.4 percent over 2004, to a record high of NT$264,588 million
  
  
• Infineon and SMIC Extend Agreement into 90nm Manufacturing (Friday Jan. 06, 2006)
  Under the new agreement, Infineon will transfer its leading 90nm DRAM trench technology and 300-mm production know-how to SMIC, with the flexibility of further transferring its 70nm technology in the future