UMS Holdings

[BlueKelah]

This stock now looks like a leveraged proxy to sgx index, market up it will up more, market down it will down more, traders seem to have taken over...

-- via Xperia Z1 with tapatalk

[Boon]

Memory Suppliers Account For More Than 60% of 300mm Wafer Capacity
Ranking of top 10 suppliers now accounts for 93% of total installed 300mm wafer capacity.

JANUARY 27, 2015
By IC Insights

http://www.icinsights.com/data/articles/...ts/752.pdf
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Internet of Things to Dramatically Transform Manufacturers Products, Services and Operations in 2015, According to new IDC Manufacturing Insights report

26 Jan 2015

http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS25399815
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STAMFORD, Conn., January 26, 2015 View All Press Releases

Gartner Says By 2020, a Quarter Billion Connected Vehicles Will Enable New In-Vehicle Services and Automated Driving Capabilities

Connected Cars Will Form a Major Element of the Internet of Things

http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2970017

(vested)

[Boon]

The top 3 customers of AMAT namely TSMC, Samsung, and Intel have all reported their 4Q and FY2014 results.

The total combined capex budgets for 2015 of the top 3 customers are higher than that of capex spent in 2014 - a positive for AMAT…………….

(vested)
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Samsung Boosts Dividend as Profit Beats Estimates on Chips

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2...s-on-chips

(Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co. will spend more than $21.4 billion this year to help supply chips and displays to Apple Inc. and Chinese competitors eating away at its Galaxy smartphone sales.

Capital expenditure will top the 23.4 trillion won spent last year in an effort to boost processor chip output, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said Thursday as earnings fell for a third straight quarter. The spending plan comes as Apple surged into a tie with Samsung as the biggest smartphone maker with about 20 percent of shipments………………………………………………………….

………………………………..Profit at Samsung’s chip business, which makes both memory chips and application processors, was 2.7 trillion won, compared with 1.99 trillion won a year earlier…………………………………………….
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Chip equipment firms take Intel/TSMC's capex budgets in stride
Jan 16 2015, 19:17 ET | By: Eric Jhonsa, SA News Editor
http://seekingalpha.com/news/2228236-chi...-in-stride

TSMC:
2014 Capex spent = USD 9.52 billion
2015 Capex Budget = USD 11.5 ~ 12 billion

Intel:
2014 Capex spent = USD 10.1 billion
2015 Capex Budget = USD 9.5 ~ 10.5 billion

[Boon]

New Market Expectations For 2015

While everyone expects IoT to continue growing, many are also looking in other directions for new opportunities in 2015.

January 29th, 2015 - By: Brian Bailey

http://semiengineering.com/new-market-ex...-for-2015/
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First Look: 10nm

Problems and an early look at best practices that will be required for dealing with the next level of complexity.

January 29th, 2015 - By: Ed Sperling

http://semiengineering.com/first-look-10nm/

(vested)

[Boon]

Global Semiconductor Industry Posts Record Sales in 2014

Worldwide sales increase 9.9 percent in 2014, reaching record total of $335.8 billion and outperforming industry forecast; sales in Americas increase 12.7 percent

Published Monday, February 2, 2015 8:00 am

by Dan Rosso

WASHINGTON—Feb. 2, 2015—The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today announced that the global semiconductor industry posted record sales totaling $335.8 billion in 2014, an increase of 9.9 percent from the 2013 total of $305.6 billion. Global sales for the month of December 2014 reached $29.1 billion, marking the strongest December on record, while December 2014 sales in the Americas increased 16 percent compared to December 2013. Fourth quarter global sales of $87.4 billion were 9.3 percent higher than the total of $79.9 billion from the fourth quarter of 2013. Total sales for the year exceeded projections from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization’s industry forecast. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by WSTS and represent a three-month moving average.

“The global semiconductor industry posted its highest-ever sales in 2014, topping $335 billion for the first time thanks to broad and sustained growth across nearly all regions and product categories,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “The industry now has achieved record sales in two consecutive years and is well-positioned for continued growth in 2015 and beyond.”

Several semiconductor product segments stood out in 2014. Logic was the largest semiconductor category by sales, reaching $91.6 billion in 2014, a 6.6 percent increase compared to 2013. Memory ($79.2 billion) and micro-ICs ($62.1 billion) – a category that includes microprocessors – rounded out the top three segments in terms of sales revenue. Memory was the fastest growing segment, increasing 18.2 percent in 2014. Within memory, DRAM performed particularly well, increasing by 34.7 percent year-over-year. Other fast-growing product segments included power transistors, which reached $11.9 billion in sales for a 16.1 percent annual increase, discretes ($20.2 billion/10.8 percent increase), and analog ($44.4 billion/10.6 percent increase).

Annual sales increased in all four regional markets for the first time since 2010. The Americas market showed particular strength, with sales increasing by 12.7 percent in 2014. Sales were also up in Asia Pacific (11.4 percent), Europe (7.4 percent), and Japan (0.1 percent), marking the first time annual sales in Japan increased since 2010.

“The U.S. market demonstrated particular strength in 2014, posting double-digit growth to lead all regions,” continued Neuffer. “With the new Congress now underway, we urge policymakers to help foster continued growth by enacting policies that promote U.S. innovation and global competitiveness.”

December 2014 chart and graph
http://www.semiconductors.org/clientuplo...elease.pdf

http://www.semiconductors.org/news/2015/...s_in_2014/

(vested)

[Boon]

TSMC Plans to Invest $16 Billion More in Taiwan Site

Alan Patterson
2/9/2015

http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325607
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Silicon Wafer Shipments Reach Record Levels in 2014

SAN JOSE, Calif. — February 9, 2015 — Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased 11 percent in 2014 when compared to 2013 area shipments according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its year-end analysis of the silicon wafer industry. However, worldwide silicon revenues increased by just 1 percent in 2014 compared to 2013................................

http://www.semi.org/en/node/54591?id=highlights
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Applied Materials to Hold Q1 FY2015 Earnings Webcast on February 11, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. ET

http://ir.appliedmaterials.com/phoenix.z...ID=2012137

(vested)

[Boon]

AMAT reported results for its first quarter ended January 25, 2015.

Overall, the quarterly results is consistent with previous guidance – flat.

SSG : Revenue (USD million):
1Q2014 = 1,484
2Q2014 = 1,584
3Q2014 = 1,476
4Q2014 = 1,434
1Q2015 = 1,446

SSG : New Orders (USD million)
1Q2014 = 1,569
2Q2014 = 1,664
3Q2014 = 1,565
4Q2014 = 1,334
1Q2015 = 1,426

SSG : Backlog (USD million)
1Q2014 = 1,366
2Q2014 = 1,452
3Q2014 = 1,515
4Q2014 = 1,401
1Q2015 = 1,362

Comments:
1) SSG’s net sales increased by 1 percent to 1.446 billion.
2) SSG’s new orders were 1.426 billion, up 7 percent, with increases in DRAM and NAND, and decreases in foundry and logic/other.
3) While there are risks related to the timing of customer investments, AMAT’s current view is that 2015 will be a solid market growth -- a year of solid market growth, driven by robust memory spending in the first half and foundries ramping FinFET production in the second half.
4) It appears to me that the risks of order being “pushed out” by customer of AMAT is on the rise - with increasing complexity in the ramp up and deliveries of new processing products - as the process nodes gets smaller and smaller.

(vested).

[Boon]

Moore’s Law Chips Confidence

Packy Kelly, KPMG
2/11/2015
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?sectio...id=1325641
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KPMG Global Semiconductor Survey
Cautious Optimism Continues
December 2015
http://www.kpmg.com/US/en/IssuesAndInsig...y-2014.pdf

(vested)

[Boon]

Both Billings and Bookings figures for Jan 2015 were lower compared to Dec 2014 - but were higher than that of Jan 2014 (which were higher than that of Jan 2013) - a good start nevertheless.............

(vested)
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North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts January 2015 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.03

SAN JOSE, Calif. — February 19, 2015 — North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.31 billion in orders worldwide in January 2015 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.03, according to the January EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.03 means that $103 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in January 2015 was $1.31 billion. The bookings figure is 4.9 percent lower than the final December 2014 level of $1.38 billion, and is 2.6 percent higher than the January 2014 order level of $1.28 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in January 2015 was $1.28 billion. The billings figure is 8.6 percent lower than the final December 2014 level of $1.40 billion, and is 3.5 percent higher than the January 2014 billings level of $1.23 billion.

"2014 was a strong growth year for the semiconductor equipment industry, and both bookings and billings at the start of this year are comparable to the early 2014 figures," said SEMI president and CEO Denny McGuirk. "Given the positive outlook for the semiconductor industry in 2015 and based on current capex announcements, we expect the equipment market to continue to grow this year.”..........................................

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Billings (3-mo. avg)
Bookings (3-mo. avg)
Book-to-Bill

January 2014
1,233.2 ( 27.0% HIGHER than January 2013 billing of USD 0.968 billion )
1,280.3 ( 19.0% HIGHER than January 2013 booking of USD 1.08 billion )
1.04

Dec 2014 (Final)
1,395.9 (3.3% HIGHER than Dec 2013 billing of USD 1.35 billion)
1,381.5 (0.1% HIGHER than Dec 2013 booking of USD 1.38 billion)
0.99

Jan 2015 (prelim)
1,276.3 (3.5% HIGHER than Jan 2014 billing of USD 1.23 billion)
1,313.6 (2.6% HIGHER than Jan 2014 booking of USD 1.28 billion)
1.03

http://www.semi.org/en/node/54771?id=highlights

[DCF]

For UMS, another big benefit come from the drop in cost. Almost all operation are based out of MY and the sustained weakness in ringet means boost in margin and profit. The weakness in oil price, and hence utility help in a similar way.

Having net net cash shield them from increasing interest rate. Having bought all the equipment in the past and not requiring any major capex now help them in avoiding impact of currency risk.

Overall, I think results will show in coming quarter, and beyond