News Article
A different, more positive dream
Some commentators suggest that the European semiconductor industry is in bad shape, figures presented at the Industry Strategy Symposium in Amsterdam demonstrate that the European industry has continued to be a strong player in the global marketplace and will remain so in the future. David Ridsdale reports
Every year SEMI holds Industry Strategy Symposiums (ISS) in various geographic regions to support the global semiconductor manufacturing industry. Historically the European event has been little more than a replay of the American counterpart held the month before. The European SEMI office has struggled to find a unique voice but has slowly moved towards a programme that is specific and relevant to the region. The 2006 event in Amsterdam moves further in this direction with an agenda completely different to the US offerings.
The key note address from Theo Classen, VP of Strategy and Business development at Philips semiconductor set the tone for much of the symposium’s content. Although the topic said nanotechnology, much of Classen’s talk revolved around collaborations occurring around Europe and the impact they may have on future developments for the industry. Throughout the two day event there was constant reference to future opportunities that were available if the European community could work together.
In one sense the SEMI ISS suggested that Europe needed to look beyond traditional semiconductor manufacturing to remain a force in global manufacturing with a strong focus on nanotechnology and photovoltaic opportunities. Of course this led to coffee break discussions on what is nanotechnology manufacturing. The basic rule of below 100nm has been achieved by the semiconductor industry, so nanotechnology really focuses on the technology nodes that will supersede current optical based manufacturing techniques. What techniques will be chosen remains a mystery but it is the preparation for such a time that the symposium concentrated on.
One of the first major talks provided delegates with a vision of hope that was much more positive than the European community has historically been able to provide itself with. The presentation was entitled “Euro Dream: A new vision for a globally connected world” and was provided by Jeremy Rifkin, President of the Foundation of Economic Trends. Rifkin provided a positive view of the impact the European Union potentially will have on the region becoming a world super power. The talk was a précis of Rifkin’s book, The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, of which all attendees received a copy.
So why was the talk so important and why did it inspire the largest amount of coffee break discussion? Firstly Rifkin is an American who was telling the Europeans that their history and politics set them up better than Americans for a global marketplace and industry. Rifkin describes the emergence and evolution of the European Union over the past five decades, as well as key differences between European and American values. He argues that the European Union, which he describes as the first truly post modern governing body, has the potential to become a world superpower.
According to Rifkin, the ‘European Dream’, which champions communalism, sustainability, and human rights over property rights and radical individualism, is better-suited to 21st century challenges than the ‘American dream’ of personal fortune, which may be obsolete. Rifkin is well placed to make such observations, serving as an advisor to both the US as well as the EU governments. Despite the controversial positions that follow on from some of his ideas, it was refreshing to be at a European event and having a positive view come out of the work occurring within its boundaries.
In his own way Rifkin hit directly at the fears and hopes of the European semiconductor manufacturing community. It has become obvious to most people that Europe has the knowledge and capacity to be a world leader in both market consumption and manufacturing output. Most topics at the symposium discussed this potential but always there was the challenge of how to make it all come together. Rifkin’s point that Europe is better positioned than America to deal with the various cultures and marketplaces of the world is based on the different and various cultures that make up Europe. This may be a cultural strength, but it is often Europe’s weakness, as companies and countries still have trouble divorcing personal needs with a vision of combined strength and growth.
x-head: Collaboration
Luckily there are many positive signs that collaboration is moving towards pre-competitive collaboration, as that is the only way the broader European community will become a world powerhouse. Led by the excellence of IMEC, there are now positive collaborative efforts that are setting up the European industry for the future. Despite the hype of a manufacturing exodus to Asia, there is evidence to suggest this will be no more than high volume devices while engineering intensive products will remain in Europe. This was confirmed in a discussion with Jean-Philippe Dauvin, STMicroelectronics’ Chief Economist. Dauvin stated that although there may be more engineers in China now, there is still not the experience that Europe contains. It will take many years for the Asian region to catch up to Europe and America in terms of experience.
So despite the push to Asia for manufacturing, the research, development and qualification of new processes will continue in the traditional areas of Europe, America, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Taiwan and Korea. Of course Europe is host to what is considered the world’s most advanced fab with AMD in Dresden. The Crolles consortium is also a world leading research facility for future manufacturing needs.
Addressing the European successes was Livio Baldi of STMicroelectronics who outlined the importance of the Crolles co-operation in recent advances. Baldi called this approach the ‘European model’, and although other regions are doing similar things, it is true that Europeans pioneered the pre-competitive approach to co-operation. This business strategy was highlighted by Kin Wah Loh of Infineon and then Hugo De Man of IMEC followed the same idea into the future of manufacturing, suggesting this model will be vital if Europe is to be successful at nano-scale integration.
Much of the rest of the symposium highlighted the future for European semiconductor manufacturing with speakers stressing the need for more intensive and transparent collaboration if Europe is to make an impact in emerging technologies. There were calls for greater transparency across European research and development to ensure work does not overlap and that a common sense of purpose ensures benefit to all. Unfortunately there was little talk of the need for a more global approach, as it is obvious that all geographic regions have similar plans to be the leader in nanotechnology – only one can make it to the top of the heap.
Another area of interest was the talk by Eric Meurice of ASML. Meurice made it clear that ASML were ready for the immersion lithography challenge but coffee break discussion suggested that while the lithography vendors may have the tools, the manufacturers are far from happy that the process is working satisfactorily – a view that has been confirmed at the recent SPIE event in California. There is a long way to go to ensure that immersion is production-ready, with too many defects to be eliminated from the process.
x-head: Consolidating the back end
Jan Vardaman, president of TechSearch International, highlighted another potential issue for the industry – that is the growing pressure of advanced packaging material supplies. With green materials required and some laminates coming from oil by-products, there is a very real concern that materials may be harder to come by and a great deal more expensive, affecting extremely delicate profit margins in the manufacturing food chain.
Jean-Philippe Dauvin told me that he feels the packaging side of the business is the one of the more important enabling processes for the industry, with packages becoming smaller and more integral to the actual device. With consolidation at an advanced stage in the front end, Dauvin sees enormous opportunities for the vast array of back-end companies and processes. Consolidation will of course reach this area, but there is more scope for companies to come up with innovative disruptive technology in the back-end than there is in the more mature front end processes and business.
The analysts then provided a variety of potential results for 2006, but one thing came through. The European industry is nowhere near in as bad a shape as some people try to suggest. In fact, figures were shown that demonstrated that the European industry has continued to be a strong player in the global marketplace and will remain so in the future. Nowadays it is more about how they participate in the global market rather than how they maintain an insular industry. As Dauvin said in his speech, “The rumours of Europe’s death are an exaggeration.
The key note address from Theo Classen, VP of Strategy and Business development at Philips semiconductor set the tone for much of the symposium’s content. Although the topic said nanotechnology, much of Classen’s talk revolved around collaborations occurring around Europe and the impact they may have on future developments for the industry. Throughout the two day event there was constant reference to future opportunities that were available if the European community could work together.
In one sense the SEMI ISS suggested that Europe needed to look beyond traditional semiconductor manufacturing to remain a force in global manufacturing with a strong focus on nanotechnology and photovoltaic opportunities. Of course this led to coffee break discussions on what is nanotechnology manufacturing. The basic rule of below 100nm has been achieved by the semiconductor industry, so nanotechnology really focuses on the technology nodes that will supersede current optical based manufacturing techniques. What techniques will be chosen remains a mystery but it is the preparation for such a time that the symposium concentrated on.
One of the first major talks provided delegates with a vision of hope that was much more positive than the European community has historically been able to provide itself with. The presentation was entitled “Euro Dream: A new vision for a globally connected world” and was provided by Jeremy Rifkin, President of the Foundation of Economic Trends. Rifkin provided a positive view of the impact the European Union potentially will have on the region becoming a world super power. The talk was a précis of Rifkin’s book, The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, of which all attendees received a copy.
So why was the talk so important and why did it inspire the largest amount of coffee break discussion? Firstly Rifkin is an American who was telling the Europeans that their history and politics set them up better than Americans for a global marketplace and industry. Rifkin describes the emergence and evolution of the European Union over the past five decades, as well as key differences between European and American values. He argues that the European Union, which he describes as the first truly post modern governing body, has the potential to become a world superpower.
According to Rifkin, the ‘European Dream’, which champions communalism, sustainability, and human rights over property rights and radical individualism, is better-suited to 21st century challenges than the ‘American dream’ of personal fortune, which may be obsolete. Rifkin is well placed to make such observations, serving as an advisor to both the US as well as the EU governments. Despite the controversial positions that follow on from some of his ideas, it was refreshing to be at a European event and having a positive view come out of the work occurring within its boundaries.
In his own way Rifkin hit directly at the fears and hopes of the European semiconductor manufacturing community. It has become obvious to most people that Europe has the knowledge and capacity to be a world leader in both market consumption and manufacturing output. Most topics at the symposium discussed this potential but always there was the challenge of how to make it all come together. Rifkin’s point that Europe is better positioned than America to deal with the various cultures and marketplaces of the world is based on the different and various cultures that make up Europe. This may be a cultural strength, but it is often Europe’s weakness, as companies and countries still have trouble divorcing personal needs with a vision of combined strength and growth.
x-head: Collaboration
Luckily there are many positive signs that collaboration is moving towards pre-competitive collaboration, as that is the only way the broader European community will become a world powerhouse. Led by the excellence of IMEC, there are now positive collaborative efforts that are setting up the European industry for the future. Despite the hype of a manufacturing exodus to Asia, there is evidence to suggest this will be no more than high volume devices while engineering intensive products will remain in Europe. This was confirmed in a discussion with Jean-Philippe Dauvin, STMicroelectronics’ Chief Economist. Dauvin stated that although there may be more engineers in China now, there is still not the experience that Europe contains. It will take many years for the Asian region to catch up to Europe and America in terms of experience.
So despite the push to Asia for manufacturing, the research, development and qualification of new processes will continue in the traditional areas of Europe, America, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Taiwan and Korea. Of course Europe is host to what is considered the world’s most advanced fab with AMD in Dresden. The Crolles consortium is also a world leading research facility for future manufacturing needs.
Addressing the European successes was Livio Baldi of STMicroelectronics who outlined the importance of the Crolles co-operation in recent advances. Baldi called this approach the ‘European model’, and although other regions are doing similar things, it is true that Europeans pioneered the pre-competitive approach to co-operation. This business strategy was highlighted by Kin Wah Loh of Infineon and then Hugo De Man of IMEC followed the same idea into the future of manufacturing, suggesting this model will be vital if Europe is to be successful at nano-scale integration.
Much of the rest of the symposium highlighted the future for European semiconductor manufacturing with speakers stressing the need for more intensive and transparent collaboration if Europe is to make an impact in emerging technologies. There were calls for greater transparency across European research and development to ensure work does not overlap and that a common sense of purpose ensures benefit to all. Unfortunately there was little talk of the need for a more global approach, as it is obvious that all geographic regions have similar plans to be the leader in nanotechnology – only one can make it to the top of the heap.
Another area of interest was the talk by Eric Meurice of ASML. Meurice made it clear that ASML were ready for the immersion lithography challenge but coffee break discussion suggested that while the lithography vendors may have the tools, the manufacturers are far from happy that the process is working satisfactorily – a view that has been confirmed at the recent SPIE event in California. There is a long way to go to ensure that immersion is production-ready, with too many defects to be eliminated from the process.
x-head: Consolidating the back end
Jan Vardaman, president of TechSearch International, highlighted another potential issue for the industry – that is the growing pressure of advanced packaging material supplies. With green materials required and some laminates coming from oil by-products, there is a very real concern that materials may be harder to come by and a great deal more expensive, affecting extremely delicate profit margins in the manufacturing food chain.
Jean-Philippe Dauvin told me that he feels the packaging side of the business is the one of the more important enabling processes for the industry, with packages becoming smaller and more integral to the actual device. With consolidation at an advanced stage in the front end, Dauvin sees enormous opportunities for the vast array of back-end companies and processes. Consolidation will of course reach this area, but there is more scope for companies to come up with innovative disruptive technology in the back-end than there is in the more mature front end processes and business.
The analysts then provided a variety of potential results for 2006, but one thing came through. The European industry is nowhere near in as bad a shape as some people try to suggest. In fact, figures were shown that demonstrated that the European industry has continued to be a strong player in the global marketplace and will remain so in the future. Nowadays it is more about how they participate in the global market rather than how they maintain an insular industry. As Dauvin said in his speech, “The rumours of Europe’s death are an exaggeration.
