New joint group tracks global IC capacity, use

Electronic News, June 26, 1995

SAN JOSE, CALIF.--More than 52 million six-inch equivalent wafers were produced during 1994, representing 94.2 percent of total integrated circuit factory capacity, according to the Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS), a recently-founded organization jointly sponsored by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the European Electronic Component Manufacturers Association (EECA), the Electronic Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ), and the Korea Semiconductor Association (KSIA). The new statistical group, which said six Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers also submitted data for its first project, said semiconductor factories presently are capable of producing 56 million six-inch equivalent wafers in a given year.

Otmar Hintringer of Siemens is the the first chairman of SICAS, whose program is to track worldwide IC manufacturing capacity and utilization. The first meeting was held last February in Frankfurt, Germany and the organization will report twice yearly on global capacity and utilization uses. SICAS said its data will be divided into production above and below 0.7-micron processes as well as by MOS and bipolar technologies.

In 1994, according to the group, semiconductor companies averaging weekly production of wafers at 0.7-micron and above represented 95.8 percent of total capacity, while for six-inch equivalent wafers of 0.7-micron and below the average weekly production represented 96.7 percent of capacity. The 1994 bipolar average weekly wafer production was about at 87.5 percent of capacity.

However, during the first six months of 1994, global factories produced on average six-inch equivalent wafers of 0.7-micron and above at 95.7 percent capacity and that figure increased slightly to 96 percent capacity during the second six months of last year. For six-inch equivalent wafers of 0.7-micron, the first six months of 1994 was at 96.3 percent of capacity and that advanced to 97 percent of capacity in the second six months of last year. Bipolar wafer starts (five-inch equivalent) during the first half of 1994 averaged about 86.7 percent of capacity while these same wafer starts increased per week during the second half of 1994 to about 88.2 percent of capacity.

In another development, the SIA last week said four American companies were among the teams which received seven "design-in excellence" awards from Japan's International Semiconductor Cooperation Center (INSEC), ostensibly reflecting the results of U.S. success in accessing the Japanese semiconductor market.

The winners include: Advanced Micro Devices Far East and Sony for a one-chip solution in Sony's digital cordless phone; Nippon Motorola and Canon for a digital signal processor in Canon's high resolution video camcorder; Texas Instruments Japan and Fujitsu for the design-in of a signal processor in Fujitsu's magneto-optical disk; Texas Instruments Japan and Matsushita Electric for an image stabilization memory into a camcorder; Texas Instruments Japan and Pioneer for an electronic volume IC in a car stereo system; Nippon Motorola and Fujitsu for an imbedded control application in a magneto-optical disk; and International Rectifier and Mitsubishi for a high voltage driver IC into a general purpose inverter.