SEMICON Taiwan 2012 kicked off yesterday for a three-day run at the Taipei World Trade Center's Nangang Hall,with approximately 600 manufacturers from 20 nations displaying their latest technologies at over 1,250 booths.
The is expected to attract some 30,000 visitors including 4,000 workshop attendees from semiconductor,light emitting diode(LED)and microelectromechanical system(MEMS)industries.
This year,the trade show features technology themes focusing on LEDs,IC design,MEMS,3D ICs,advanced packaging/testing,eco-friendly manufacturing process,and refurbished equipment,according to organizer SEMI(Semiconductor Equipment&Materials International).
On the sideline workshops are held.For the first time,450mm supply chain is chosen as a workshop topic at the annual trade show.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.(TSMC)and SEMI jointly hold the 450mm forum,and 3D IC technology is also workshop topic.
SEMI expected the trade show to be excited by the bright outlook for the equipment and material market.A total of approximately US$40 billion has been planned by Taiwan's chipmakers,LED manufacturers,and contracted semiconductor assembly and test houses on capital equipment and materials over the next two years to keep up with brisk demands for tablets,smarphones and mobile devices.
This year,Taiwan and South Korea are expected to be the largest markets for IC capital equipment and materials.According to midyear 2012 edition of the SEMI Capital Equipment Forecast,semiconductor equipment sales in Taiwan will increase from US$8.5 billion in 2011 to US$9.3 billion in 2012.Worldwide sales are projected at US$42.2 billion for this year.
Terry Tsao,SEMI president in charge of Taiwan and Southeast Asia,pointed out that Taiwan's market for IC assembly and test equipment is projected at around US$1.4 billion this year.Major contracted assemblers and testers are vigorously investing in advanced tools to keep up with brisk demands on mobile device sector.He felt that investment momentum of Taiwan's IC industry would continue into 2013 mostly thanks to 28nm expansion plans by silicon foundries.
Foundries TSMC and United Microelectronics Corp.(UMC)are on the track to add new 300mm wafer fabs to cope with excessive demands for 28nm process and below in the years to come.
This year,SEMICON Taiwan is co-located with LED Taiwan Exposition,which attracts leading international companies including Canon,Epistar,Everlight,Fujitsu,IBM,Lite-On,Lextar,Unity Opto,Philips Lumileds,SAMPO and so on to exhibit their latest technologies.
