Others have another viewpoint. ''450-mm is a hot topic all of a sudden. It’s a good sign that the downturn’s really over whenever a new wafer size gets industry attention,'' said G. Dan Hutcheson, chief executive of VLSI Research, in a report.More info at EE Times.
''While many are focused on when, I think the bigger issue is how to get the technology to the next level. At a minimum, that is going to take a commitment of at least $1 billion to a consortium to take the technology to the next level: early production prototype tool sets,'' he said.
''I don’t see any signs of that happening. In the downturn the money was not there due to the 'American Financial Crisis.' Now it’s not there because all available money is going into expanding current capacity,'' he said.
Switch to 450mm fabs too costly?
Posted on Monday, May 31 2010 @ 11:15 CEST by Thomas De MaesschalckVLSI Research contradicts reports that a shift towards 450mm wafers may occur within a couple of years, claiming that the technology is unlikely to appear for the foreseeable future due to high costs involved:
