How to cope with semiconductor fab tool obsolescence: ConFab preview

Sanjay Rajguru, director of ISMI, will present “Tool Obsolescence and the Impact on 200mm Manufacturing” at The ConFab 2012’s final session, Maximizing the Longevity of Investments.The ConFab is an invitation-only event for the semiconductor industry, June 3-6 in Las Vegas. Rajguru will join John Frank, SVP Industrial and Advanced Technology, CH2MHill; Gary Robertson, division GM, KLA-Tencor; and Mike Barrow, EVP and COO, International Rectifier, in the session.Moore’s Law dictates that some portion of our semiconductor product base becomes obsolete every year, Rajguru points out. A growing list of 200mm manufacturing parts also becomes obsolete every year. Tool obsolescence is possibly the most critical problem faced by legacy manufacturers.To help identify the root cause and possible solutions to obsolescence, ISMI conducted over a year’s research. Rajguru will cover tactical and strategic methods that semiconductor manufactures in the mature production sector can use for dealing with tool obsolescence.Sanjay Rajguru is the director of International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI), responsible for the consortium’s manufacturing technology programs. His role includes leading ISMI’s Manufacturing Capabilities and Mature Fabs programs, which are focused on the systematic improvement of manufacturability: factory and equipment stability, productivity and cost improvements, and equipment lifecycle management. He also oversees the ISMI ESH Technology Center, a global collaborative research organization including chip manufacturers and equipment and material suppliers devoted to collectively finding and implementing the most cost-effective, environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and procedures. Prior to joining ISMI, Rajguru was a fab manager at National Semiconductor for 13 years and held various engineering and management positions with Nortel Semiconductors...more........ This Article Originally Came From The Internet 

Pressure builds on Facebook as SEC, FINRA call for review

Two top U.S. financial regulators called for a review of the initial public offering of Facebook last week, putting fresh pressure on the company, its embattled lead underwriter and the Nasdaq.

After Friday's nearly flat close and Monday's 11 percent plunge, Facebook shares were down 8 percent at $31.28 in late afternoon trading on heavy volume of 88 million shares. At that price the company has shed more than $17 billion in market capitalization from its $38-per-share offering price last week.

Investors were still shaking their heads over the botched opening trading of Facebook when Reuters reported late Monday that the consumer Internet analyst at lead underwriter Morgan Stanley cut his revenue forecasts for Facebook in the days before the offering, information that may not have reached many investors before the stock was listed.

JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, which were also underwriters on the deal, each revised their estimates during the road show as well, according to sources familiar with the situation.

"The allegations, if true, are a matter of regulatory concern" to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and to the SEC, FINRA's Rick Ketchum told Reuters.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro said investors should be confident in investing, but she conceded there were questions to answer.

"I think there is a lot of reason to have confidence in our markets and in the integrity of how they operate, but there are issues that we need to look at specifically with respect to Facebook," she told reporters as she exited a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

With Facebook shares all but impossible to sell short, investors have sought out almost any related vehicle to bet against the social network. Over the past three trading days, prices plunged on two closed-end funds that owned pre-IPO shares. Firsthand Technology Value Fund and GSV Capital Corp both dropped more than 25 percent even though their Facebook holdings make up only a small fraction of assets.

"Until investors can actually short Facebook, they have to keep shorting other things that can give them some sort of proxy for Facebook," said Thomas Vandeventer, manager of the Tocqueville Opportunity Fund, which owns shares of both the battered closed-end funds.

Brokers who over-ordered shares in the expectation that supply would be limited continued to complain they received too much stock to handle and were left in the dark about forecast changes.

One Morgan Stanley Smith Barney adviser also cited the fact that institutional investors received information that retail investors did not, calling it "a huge issue for the entire industry....more

This Article Originally Came From The Internet