UMS Holdings

[Stephentoh]

Bonus share seem not being credited yet, when it does, there might be another of falling, guess i will pick up more soon haa

[Tiggerbee]

No joke if AMAT started selling again.

[CityFarmer]

I've put UMS in my watch list from $0.40, took my eyes off a few months and then it was gone. I just helped to clear the sell Q at $0.555 and vested.

Welcome on board. We have another member in the "catching falling knife" club.

(vested)

[Aldar]

I've put UMS in my watch list from $0.40, took my eyes off a few months and then it was gone. I just helped to clear the sell Q at $0.555 and vested.

Welcome on board. We have another member in the "catching falling knife" club.

(vested)

Please update as soon as the bonus shares are credited - I would like to try catching the 2nd wave of sell down if any.

[twsoon]

I am also helping to clear the $0.555 sell queue.

[Boon]

Digitimes Research: Korea semiconductor companies to ramp up capital spending in 2H14

Ricky Tu, DIGITIMES Research, Taipei [Tuesday 17 June 2014]

Semiconductor capital spending by Samsung Electronics has topped the world's semiconductor companies for the fourth straight year since 2010. In 2014, Samsung's semiconductor capex is expected to stay flat at US$11.5 billion as compared to the previous year. However, since Samsung plans to begin install production equipment at its Line-17 fab in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, its semiconductor capex in the second half of 2014 will be higher than that in the first half, according to Digitimes Research.

Having already set up seven semiconductor production lines in its plants in Hwaseong and Xian, China, the Hwaseong plant will aim to migrate to more advanced process nodes in 2014, while the Xian plant will focus on ramping up its vertical-NAND (V-NAND) flash capacity. The Line-17 fab, which is slated for completion in the second half of 2014, will focus on offering wafer foundry services using 20nm and below processes, Digitimes Research said.

Meanwhile, SK Hynix's capex for 2014 is expected to reach US$3.3-3.8 billion, up from US$3.3 billion a year earlier. SK Hynix' main capex for 2014 will be used to build its M14 fab. Construction of the M14 line is expected to begin in mid-2014.

Capital spending of other semiconductor companies, including Micron Technology, Toshiba and SanDisk will also top US$1.0 billion each in 2014. Micron is expected to accelerate the migration of its DRAM production to 20nm process, while also ramping up its NAND flash capacity.Toshiba will team up with SanDisk to expand the production capacity of V-NAND flash at its plant in Yokkaichi.

For non-memory chips, the 2014 capex of Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Globalfoundries and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) will also exceed US$1 billion each. While Intel will deepen its development of 14nm and below processes, TSMC will focus on 16nm FinFET process. Globalfoundries and UMC will raise the ratios of their 28nm production,while beginning to develop 20nm and below technologies.

Combined 2014 capital spending of these semiconductor firms with a capex budget of over US$1 billion in the year is expected to amount to US$49.3 billion, Digitimes Research estimates.

The top-three DRAM chipmakers will move to upgrade their processes to 25-21nm, while the NAND flash industry will stress on ramping V-NAND flash production as well as to migrate to 19-16nm processes.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20140617PD203.html

(vested)

[Aldar]

I've put UMS in my watch list from $0.40, took my eyes off a few months and then it was gone. I just helped to clear the sell Q at $0.555 and vested.

Welcome on board. We have another member in the "catching falling knife" club.

(vested)

Please update as soon as the bonus shares are credited - I would like to try catching the 2nd wave of sell down if any.

-> Security Credit Date 18/06/2014

[Boon]

Smartphones to Drive Double-Digit Growth of Smart Connected Devices in 2014 and Beyond, According to IDC

17 Jun 2014

SAN MATEO, Calif., June 17, 2014 – Worldwide smart connected devices (SCD) are forecast to grow 15.6% year over year in 2014, reaching close to 1.8 billion devices according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Smart Connected Devices Tracker. Smartphone growth is expected to lead the charge as PC and tablet plus 2-in-1 forecasts have been lowered in light of a weak first quarter. By 2018, IDC estimates shipments will grow to 2.4 billion units.

"Apple's iOS-ification of Mac OS, and Microsoft's implementation of Modern UI throughout different form factors are clear indicators that we're living in a mobile-first world," said Jitesh Ubrani, Research Analyst, Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. "The PC will be the new accessory to mobile as smartphones become the first and primary computing device for many." IDC expects smartphone shipments to outpace total PC shipments by more than 6 to 1 in 2018.

The smartphone installed base is quickly approaching two billion units, and vendors are scrambling to find the next two billion users in new markets. As such, IDC is forecasting strong double-digit growth in the low-cost Android smartphone segment that is driving much of the growth in emerging countries such as China, India, and Brazil. Meanwhile, mature markets such as the United States and Western Europe are slowing to single-digit growth rates as the installed base swells.

"Low-cost Android smartphones will drive much of the SCD shipment growth in coming years," said Tom Mainelli, Program Vice President for IDC's Devices and Displays group. "The influx of inexpensive phones will drive the SCD average selling price bands downward, with the sub-$200 band increasing from 33% of total shipments in 2013 to greater than 43% in 2018, while devices that cost more than $500 are forecast to shrink from 33% of total device shipments to 21.1%."......

http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24935114
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

200mm equipment market gaining new lease on life

By Mike Rosa, Applied Materials

In 2004/2005, shipments of 300mm wafer fab equipment (WFE) began to outpace that of 200mm platforms. As the “baton” in the node-scaling race appeared to pass from 200mm to 300mm, it was clear that device manufacturers were transitioning to higher-volume, more cost-effective 300mm toolsets for cost efficiencies of the production of advanced memory and microprocessor devices. Tool suppliers enabled the transition with the availability of the comprehensive 300mm toolset and began a new 300mm technology race, and leaving the major OEMs to focus on service and spares for the now legacy 200mm toolsets. With advanced device designs fully transitioned to 300mm, many IDMs and foundries were left with growing excess capacity on their 200mm production lines.

Surprisingly, new life and attention has been refocused on the 200mm tool sets and available capacity as two phenomena are driving new requirement and economics.

First, in 2006, a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)-based accelerometer became a game changer when introduced into Nintendo’s next-generation Wii motion controller. This was the first significant and novel use of a MEMS device for motion tracking in a high-volume consumer application. Next, in 2007, when Apple Inc. first introduced the iPhone to the world, it came to light that MEMS devices were enabling a number of its advanced motion-based features.

Later, it would be noted that more than 75% of the semiconductor device content in the iPhone was sourced from 200mm wafer starts. The devices manufactured on 200mm wafers spanned a wide variety of applications that included not only MEMS applications (motion, audio, RF, etc.) but also CIS (CMOS Image Sensor), communications, power management and analog devices.

Sold in the hundreds of millions per year, first the iPhone and then the multitude of other smart phones, tablet PCs, and related digital devices, that followed, drove the adoption of the emerging “More-than-Moore” class of devices (which were first pioneered on 150mm wafers at the time) onto 200mm wafers. These high-volume consumer applications gave rise to a resurgence in both new and used of 200mm equipment. This sudden requirement for new sourcing of “legacy” 200mm toolsets placed considerable strain on a supply chain that then focused almost exclusively on 300mm; tool vendors struggled in refurbishment, upgrade, and production of matching tools and processes that performed outside the requirements of traditional semiconductor applications (see Figure 1)....................


Some of these additional requirements — including new and thicker films (>20µm), advanced DRIE (Deep-Reactive-Ion-Etch) capabilities capable of delivering aspect ratios approaching 100:1, and new process capabilities like HFv (Hydrofluoric Acid vapor) release etch and Wafer Bonding — resulted in OEMs needing to restart 200mm tool development. In some cases, OEMS needed to expand their product portfolios to support the growing needs of customers producing devices in the rapidly expanding “More-than-Moore” device segment.

Fast forward to 2014 —what a difference approximately seven years has made to the industry segment and more specifically the number of opportunities in the 200mm WFE market for the new class of devices.

The surge in mobile device applications and more recently wearable technologies, has meant that device manufacturers are increasingly under pressure to produce cheaper, smaller, more capable and more power efficient devices most economically and efficiently — and this remains optimally on legacy 200mm toolsets. Combining this with the materials and production challenges presented by ultra-high volume applications spelled out in the ‘Trillion Sensor Vision’ and the now looming IoT (Internet-of-Things) (see Figure 2), and it becomes clear that OEMs who continue to support and develop solutions for the 200mm WFE market have both significant challenges and potential rewards.....................................................

Rising to the challenge presented by the demands of these rapidly growing market segments, Applied Materials is an OEM that has, over the past several years, continued to invest in the R&D of its 200mm portfolio products. Challenged to deliver new materials and processes (see Figure 3) in support the growing class of 200mm emerging technology applications that have come to include MEMS, CIS, Power Device, Analog, WLP (Wafer Level Packaging), TFB (Thin Film Battery), TSV (through-silicon via), etc., Applied Materials believes that working close to the customer and more collaboratively throughout the supply chain is paramount to success in a technically challenging and price sensitive market. The 200mm ecosystem supporting broadly expanding cost-senstive device classes represent a new fork in the roadmap that has been almost myopically focused on Moore’s Law evolution.

http://electroiq.com/blog/2014/06/200mm-...e-on-life/

(vested)

[Stephentoh]

Bonus shares are credited in, those who are interested can keep a look out. cheers

[mslee888]

Hopefully this will be the last phase of selling down..with those intend to exit with their bonus shares. Hope to see some price stability soon..