June 20, 2007 (Pleasanton, CA) –Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. (WWK), a cost & productivity management software and consulting services company, recently conducted a survey on equipment and process timing in the semiconductor industry. This survey was done in conjunction with its EquipmentFutures™ May 2007 forecast of equipment trends which is distributed by Strategic Marketing Associates.
Fifty percent or more of respondents expect to see the following manufacturing technologies in production between 2008 and 2010: Adaptive Test, High K gate dielectrics, Metal gates, Equipment with energy saving "sleep" states
Between 2010 and 2012, 50% or more of respondents expect to see: 193 high index immersion lithography, Wafer-level reliability testing, Damascene gate formation
However, survey respondents did not expect to see the following technologies in production until 2013 or beyond: EUV lithography, Imprint lithography, 450-mm wafers
Daren Dance, WWK’s Vice-president of technology commented, “We were not surprised that the most frequent response to the question about 450-mm wafer timing was 2013 or beyond but we were surprised that 39% of respondents indicated that 450-mm wafers would never happen in production manufacturing. Thus, we expect that fabs can plan on at least 5 years, and probably more, life from their current investments in 300-mm manufacturing equipment.”
The details behind this survey have been distributed to subscribers of EquipmentFutures™ and to survey respondents. EquipmentFutures™ is a unique series of equipment forecast that covers six individual semiconductor manufacturing equipment groupings. It takes both market research on semiconductor and equipment sales and semiconductor device end market demand into consideration. Each module contains information on unit volumes (conservative, median, and optimistic) as well as projected average selling price (ASP) on a quarterly basis for five years.
Strategic Marketing Associates provides the industry with comprehensive and accurate data about wafer fabs and summary information about key industry trends. SMA has developed a suite of fab information products including 'The Quarterly Spot Report' on Semiconductor Fab Products, 'International Wafer Fab News', 'Fab Expenditures: The Next 18 Months', the Fab Construction Monitor: The Next 18 Months', 'The 300mm Fab Report' and the newly introduced 'FabFutures' and 'Fab TimeLine'.
With more than 3,000 users worldwide, Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc. is the largest privately held operational cost management software and consulting company serving technology-dependent and technology-driven organizations. WWK maintains long-term relationships with prominent industry resources including SEMATECH, SELETE, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), and national labs and universities. Its client base includes nearly all of the top 20 semiconductor manufacturers and equipment and materials suppliers as well as leaders in nanotechnology, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), thin film record heads, magnetic media, flat panel displays, and solar panels.
In addition to its professional consulting and market research services, WWK’s product line includes TWO COOL® for detailed process step level cost of ownership (COO) and overall equipment efficiency (OEE), PRO COOL® for process flow and test cell costing, Factory Commander® for full factory capacity analysis and activity based costing, and Factory Explorer® for cycle time reduction and WIP planning. Additionally, WWK offers a highly flexible product management software package that helps sales forces eliminate errors in product configuration and quotation processes.
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