The Fab Line
Compiled by Jeff Chappell -- EDN, December 2, 2002
Mattson Retires from Mattson Technology Board
Mattson Technology Inc. said recently that its founder, Brad Mattson, has retired from his position as board vice chairman and as a member of the board of directors. Mattson said it was the next logical step in his planned retirement. The move comes a little more than a year since Mattson retired as CEO of the company that bears his name. At the time, he told Electronic News that he had originally planned to retire within five or six years of starting Mattson Technology in 1988, but downturns and the retirement of several potential successors kept him at the helm until late last year. Mattson is a well-known figure in the semiconductor industry. His career began at Applied Materials Inc., followed by a brief stint LFE Corp. before founding Novellus Systems Inc., only to leave it because of a reported management dispute. He then moved on to found Mattson Technology. At the time of his retirement last year, Mattson told Electronic News that he had no plans to start yet another company, but rather wanted to spend more time with his family.
To replace Mattson on the board, the company brought in Bill Turner. Turner is a 13-year veteran of KLA-Tencor Corp., where he most recently served as VP of finance. In recent years, he has been active as a general partner in a private venture capital firm.
Worldwide October Equipment Book-to-Bill Drops to 0.86
World Wide Equipment Billings amounted to $2.2 billion in October and bookings were at $1.9 billion, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 0.86, according to a report from VLSI Research Inc. That represents a sequential dip in billings of 30 percent and represents the lowest revenue VLSI has recorded in the second half of 2002. Meanwhile, October's billings were 15 percent higher than the September 2001 level. Of the total billings in October, $1.3 billion were for wafer processing equipment, $440 million for test and related equipment, $120 million for assembly and $340 million for service and spares. VLSI expects the worldwide book-to-bill ratio to remain unchanged for November. VLSI's worldwide book-to-bill ratio for capital equipment should not be confused with that published by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), which only encompasses North American tool suppliers.
Meanwhile front-end capacity utilization has been sliding down from the peak of 87 percent in June, and that won't change any time soon, according to the market researcher. Utilization was at 84 percent in October and VLSI expects to see it drop to 79 percent when November's numbers come in as IC makers continue to cut production to raise prices. At the same time, companies are adding capacity inexpensively by converting existing capacity to tighter CDs—but not production—and relying on equipment discounts, pushing order cancellations and then rebooking at lower prices, VLSI said.
Lam Claims Patent Victory in South Korea
Lam Research Corp. today claimed a legal victory over Kirim Semitec Co. Ltd., preventing the company from selling Lam proprietary electrodes. Fremont, Calif.-based Lam said the district court in Seoul, South Korea, has issued a preliminary injunction against Kirim. Lam alleges that Kirim was selling products that violated Lam's patents on those electrodes. The patents in dispute are U.S. Patent No. 6,073,577 and Korean Patent No. 329974. Kirim could not be reached for comment. Lam said it owned more patents in multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, Korea, Japan and Europe, covering a variety of electrode assemblies and other proprietary replacement parts.
