Government policy
As noted, the United States urgently needs more manufacturing capacity as well as packaging plants. The United States has taken a big step forward to solve the problem. the United States House of Representatives this week introduced the America Competes Act of 2022. The bill includes funding for the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America (CHIPS) Act, which aims to strengthen semiconductor manufacturing and research in the United States. United. It includes $52 billion to fund research, design and manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States
The CHIPS law has been in the works for some time, but it is still not enacted, nor a law. But now there is a version of the legislation in the House. There is also a version of the bill in the Senate, called USICA, which passed last June. the Semiconductor Industry Association of America (SIA) applauded movements.
So now the House must pass his version and come to an agreement with the Senate on a compromised version of the bill. Then the compromised bill must pass, which in turn will be sent to President Biden for signing into law.
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The United States has lost its historic dominance in a fundamental area of electronic technology – printed circuit boards (PCBs). And the lack of meaningful US government support for the sector leaves the country’s economy and national security dangerously dependent on foreign suppliers, according to a new report from IPCa worldwide association of electronics manufacturers.
Since 2000, the United States’ share of global PCB production has fallen from over 30% to just 4%, with China now dominating the sector at around 50%, according to the CPI. “The U.S. PCB manufacturing industry is in worse shape than the semiconductor industry, and it’s time for industry and government to make meaningful changes to address it,” Joe said. O’Neil, director of OAA companies.
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ventureLAB and the Regional Municipality of York have partnered to expand the Hardware Catalyst Initiative, Canada’s only lab and incubator for hardware and semiconductor companies. York invested $1.5 million over the next five years.
Chip manufacturers
Intel job fourth quarter GAAP revenue of $20.5 billion, beating the October forecast of $1.3 billion and up 3% year-over-year. “We exceeded quarterly guidance by more than $1 billion and achieved the best quarterly and annual revenue in company history,” said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO.
Samsung reported his fourth quarter financial results of 2021. Earnings from the memory business declined from the prior quarter, but the foundry business posted a new quarterly revenue record. “For this year, Samsung expects supply to remain tight,” according to the company. Samsung plans to ship the world’s first gate-all-around transistors in the first half of 2022.
UMC fourth trimester consolidated turnover increased 5.7% from the previous quarter and up 30.5% from a year ago. In 2022, UMC’s capital expenditure budget is $3.0 billion, including the company’s Fab 12A P6 expansion plan. “In the fourth quarter, strong demand continued to drive a full load to our mills, while overall wafer shipments increased 1.7% quarter over quarter to 2.55 million equivalents 8 inches,” said Jason Wang, co-president of UMC. “Looking to the first quarter of 2022, we expect demand across all nodes in UMC’s addressable marketplaces to continue to exceed supply.”
Taiwan Intellectual Property and Commercial Court at announced its decision on UMC and other defendants regarding the case of violation of the Trade Secrets Act. The case was brought by Micron. According to Taipei Timehere was the decision.
Indebted Tsinghua Unigroup was in trouble and headed for bankruptcy. But the Chinese company has apparently found new backers–Beijing Jianguang Asset Management and Wise Road Capitalaccording to a report by Nikkei. After the move, Tsinghua Unigroup abandoned some major memory chip projects, according to the report. Tsinghua Unigroup is the parent company of YMTCa 3D NAND provider.
Reports have surfaced Nvidia may abandon acquisition plans Arm from Software bankaccording to Bloomberg. The $40 billion deal has stalled in the regulatory process, according to Bloomberg.
Fab tools, materials
For the December 2021 quarter, Search Lam reported sales of $5.227 billion and net profit was $1.195 billion, or $8.44 per diluted share under US GAAP. That compares with revenue of $5.304 billion and net income of $1.180 billion, or $8.27 per diluted share, for the three months ended Sept. 26, 2021. Archer, chairman and chief executive of LamResearch.
KLA reported GAAP net income of $717.4 million, or $4.71 per share, on revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter. “KLA’s performance for the December quarter and the 2021 calendar exceeded our expectations in a demanding and challenging environment,” said Rick Wallace, President and CEO of KLA.
Smart SenseCMOS image sensor supplier, has selected PDF Solutions’ Exensio Fabless as a platform for perform data management and analysis for its entire product family. “Exensio Fabless enables our product engineering organization to reach new levels of data analysis for all of our product lines. This has resulted in faster time-to-market and return for our products, and increased demand for our products worldwide,” said Shao Zexu, Vice President of Process Strategy and Intellectual Property at SmartSens.
Brucker announced the introduction of Connexus in Europe – a cloud-based collaboration platform that connects nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) scientists in need of analytical services and data evaluation expertise with NMR laboratories.
Liquid air plans to invest nearly $60 million to build, own and operate a specialty gas plant at a new manufacturing site in Phoenix, Arizona. Operations and procurement are expected to begin in the second half of 2022.
Testing, automation
Teradyne reported revenue of $885 million for the fourth quarter of 2021. GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was $230.3 million or $1.29 per diluted share. “Our industrial automation and testing business delivered another quarter of double-digit revenue growth over the prior year,” said CEO and President Mark Jagiela.
Separately, Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR)provider of autonomous mobile robots (AMR), saw a 42% increase in sales in 2021 compared to 2020. December alone was a record month for the company, with nearly 300 robots shipped. MiR is a unit of Teradyne.
Education
the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Semiconductor Research Corp. (CRS) signed a memorandum of understanding to support research opportunities for undergraduate students in technical fields related to semiconductors. As part of a new five-year agreement, the NSF and SRC will jointly support scholarships through the NSF Research Experiences Program for Undergraduates (REU).
Ohio University published a resource guide titled, “Women in Engineering: Scholarships, Statistics, and Tips for Getting Ahead.” This guide provides information and resources on a list of scholarships for women in engineering, statistics, challenges, and more. Women only hold about 28% of STEM jobs, but scholarships can make engineering programs more accessible.
the Optica Foundation announced the Optica Women Scholars Program. The program provides resources to 20 women annually through financial support of $10,000. During this time, II-VI inc. pledged $100,000 over the next five years in the new scholarship program launched by the Optica Foundation.
SkyWater announced the launch of an apprenticeship program at its plant in Bloomington, Minnesota. The program is designed with a combination of on-the-job training and formal education. It is based on a curriculum endorsed by industry and universities across Hennepin Technical College.
Market research
For the quarter, Apple posted a all-time earnings record of $123.9 billion, up 11% year-over-year. Despite a slight year-on-year drop in shipments, Apple had an impressive holiday quarteronce again jumping over Samsung to the top spot in the smartphone market, according to IDC.
Based in North America semiconductor equipment manufacturers recorded $3.92 billion in billings worldwide in December 2021, according to SEMI. The billing figure is 0.5% lower than the final November 2021 billing of $3.93 billion and 46.1% higher than the December 2020 billing of $2.68 billion. “After record billings from North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers in November 2021, December billings remained strong and were the second highest on record,” said Ajit Manocha, President and CEO of the management of SEMI.
