GGNS moving today - this must be why:
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Intel Corp. is reportedly ordering and installing its first chip-equipment for the 65-nm node, in a massive procurement effort initially worth about $500-to-$700 million. Over time, Intel's 65-nm fab-tool procurement bonanza could reach into the billions of dollars.
The initial chip-equipment winners for Intel's 65-nm processor business reportedly include Applied, ASMI, ASML, Genus, Nikon, Novellus, among others, according to analysts and industry sources. A spokesman for Intel declined to comment, saying that the company does not discuss its equipment vendors.
Sources, however, indicated that ASML Holding N.V. and Nikon Corp. each won a piece of the 65-nm lithography business in terms of processing Intel's bread-and-butter MPU lines. And in a huge upset, Novellus Systems Inc. reportedly beat Applied Materials Inc. for a hotly-contested copper barrier/seed physical-vapor deposition (PVD) tool order at Intel worth about $125 million, according to industry sources.
In another surprise, Intel is reportedly looking to deploy atomic layer deposition (ALD) at the 65-nm node, by using a tool that combines intellectual property from two rivals--ASM International N.V. and Genus Inc., analysts said.
Intel is also evaluating laser thermal processing (LTP) technology from Ultratech Inc. for the 65-nm node, they added.
The chip giant has made its final decision on some tools for the 65-nm, while other equipment selections are still up in the air, said Cristina Osmena, a semiconductor equipment analyst for Needham & Co., an investment banking firm in New York. "I think (Intel's 65-nm procurement) has been an ongoing process for some time," Osmena said. "I think they are still in the process of selecting tools."
Analysts also pointed out that the Santa Clara-based chip is racing against other chip makers to deploy its 65-nm technology, which is slated to move into production in 2005--if not earlier.
