包括 KLA-Tencor 、 Novellus Systems 與 Teradyne 等半導(dǎo)體設(shè)備大廠陸續(xù)在近日公布最新一季財報結(jié)果，其銷售業(yè)績一如預(yù)期呈現(xiàn)衰退，而且他們也估計下一季業(yè)績將衰退更多；這些廠商的收入來源集中在晶圓代工廠對32納米與28納米制程節(jié)點的投資。
在此同時， EDA 供貨商 Cadence Design Systems的第三季財報結(jié)果則是表現(xiàn)亮眼，該公司表示第四季業(yè)績將會再度出現(xiàn)成長。不過Cadence一反近日半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)界常態(tài)的成長表現(xiàn)，可能有部分原因是來自于會計計算方法與授權(quán)合約，這些因素通常會讓EDA業(yè)者的業(yè)績表現(xiàn)比其它半導(dǎo)體業(yè)者、資本設(shè)備供貨商來得穩(wěn)定。
KLA-Tencor 截止于9月30日的 2011年第三季營收為7.96億美元，較前一季減少11%，但較去年同期成長17%；不過根據(jù)Yahoo Finance，該公司第三季業(yè)績比分析師預(yù)估的7.92億美元高了一些。KLA-Tencor總裁暨執(zhí)行長Rich Wallace 表示，由于全球經(jīng)濟(jì)持續(xù)疲軟，加上半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)的正常循環(huán)，讓客戶縮減訂單或是延遲產(chǎn)能擴充計畫，該公司估計本季新訂單與上季相較減少了43%，金額來到4.86億美元。
Wallace表示，KLA已看到客戶對 28納米制程設(shè)備的強勁需求，目前芯片制造商正在進(jìn)行相關(guān)投資，以克服該節(jié)點的良率挑戰(zhàn)；而KLA也積極因應(yīng)來自多家晶圓代工業(yè)者對先進(jìn)制程節(jié)點設(shè)備的需求。Wallace表示，來自晶圓代工廠的訂單占據(jù)KLA第三季新訂單的57%，該公司預(yù)期來自晶圓代工業(yè)者的需求將會持續(xù)到第四季，主要是為因應(yīng)28納米制程的量產(chǎn)。
KLA預(yù)期該公司第四季業(yè)績將減少18~25%，來到6~6.5億美元；不過當(dāng)季訂單可出現(xiàn)25%~45%的成長。KLA也預(yù)期2012年第一季將恢復(fù)營收成長。KLA的第四季財報預(yù)估與分析師所估計的7.1億美元有所落差；Wallace表示，該公司對于內(nèi)存供貨商將在短期內(nèi)增加產(chǎn)能投資抱持希望：“我們確實看到內(nèi)存產(chǎn)業(yè)的希望，但還沒有看到太多行動；在這個節(jié)骨眼上，廠商談投資都是說的比做的多?！?
市場研究機構(gòu)Barclays Capital分析師Christopher Muse則表示，他與分析師同仁們對于晶圓代工廠增加資本支出的幅度都感到驚訝；但也補充指出，他看好來自晶圓代工廠的28納米與32納米技術(shù)投資商機，會是產(chǎn)業(yè)蕭條期的一大亮點。
另一家半導(dǎo)體設(shè)備業(yè)者Novellus截止于9月24日的新一季財報結(jié)果為3.067億美元，較上一季減少12%，較去年同期減少17%。該公司第三季訂單金額減少至2.269億美元，較上一季衰退27%；當(dāng)季出貨金額則為3.016億美元，較第二季減少16.1%。Novellus董事長暨執(zhí)行長Richard Hill表示，全球市場的動蕩也影響到資本密集廠商的投資，但該公司仍對市場的科技產(chǎn)品基本需求抱持樂觀，認(rèn)為這將讓該公司安然度過蕭條時期。
自動測試設(shè)備(ATE)供貨商Teradyne的第三季業(yè)績?yōu)?.44億美元，較上一季減少30%，較去年同期減少了30%。該公司第三季訂單金額2.4億美元，其中有1.96億美元來自半導(dǎo)體測試部門，4,400萬美元來自系統(tǒng)測試業(yè)務(wù)部門。
Teradyne總裁暨執(zhí)行長Mike Bradley表示：“本季半導(dǎo)體測試訂單與相關(guān)業(yè)務(wù)營收，隨著產(chǎn)業(yè)趨勢走軟，但我們?nèi)钥吹絹碜孕袆釉O(shè)備市場由電源管理芯片、影像傳感器芯片、手機處理器等帶動的、相對強勁的成長?！痹摴绢A(yù)期第四季業(yè)績將會再次衰退，來到2.7~3億美元，此數(shù)字與分析師的估計大致相符。
EDA供貨商Cadence的第三季業(yè)績?yōu)?.92億美元，較去年同期成長23%，高于分析師所估計的2.85億美元。不過Cadence與其它EDA供貨商所認(rèn)列的營收，是以合約周期來看，并非是該期間的銷售；因此EDA廠商的營收表現(xiàn)周期通常會比其它半導(dǎo)體廠商遲幾個月。
Cadence總裁暨執(zhí)行長Lip-Bu Tan表示：「來自多個市場的熱絡(luò)設(shè)計活動，持續(xù)驅(qū)動對于我們的產(chǎn)品與解決方案之需求?！乖摴绢A(yù)期第四季業(yè)績將再成長至2.95億至3.05億美元；至于 2011全年度，則估計總營收在11.35億美元至11.45億美元之間。
編譯：Judith Cheng
本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載
參考英文原文：Downturn drags on chip equipment sales，by Dylan McGrath
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Downturn drags on chip equipment sales
Dylan McGrath
SAN FRANCISCO—As expected, semiconductor equipment suppliers that posted quarterly results this week—including KLA-Tencor Corp., Novellus Systems Inc. and Teradyne Inc.—reported declines in sales and they expect more of the same in the fourth quarter. But they generally singled out investments by foundries in 32- and 28-nm process technologies as a pocket of strength.
Meanwhile, EDA vendor Cadence Design Systems Inc. reported a third quarter increase in sales and said it expects further increase in the fourth quarter. The relatively strong Cadence results—an anomaly in the semiconductor industry these days—may be partially attributed to accounting methods and licensing contracts, which generally cause EDA sales to be less volatile than those of semiconductor firms and capital equipment suppliers.
KLA (Milpitas, Calif.) reported sales of $796 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down 11 percent from the previous quarter but up 17 percent from the year-ago quarter. KLA reported a net income of $192 million, or $1.13 per diluted share, down 22 percent from the previous quarter but up 25 percent from the year-ago quarter.
KLA's third quarter sales exceeded consensus analysts' expectations of about $792 million, according to Yahoo Finance.
Rich Wallace, KLA's president and CEO, said in a conference call with analysts following the company's report that persistent economic weakness compounded normal cyclicality in the semiconductor industry, leading customers to scale back or delay planned capacity expansion. New orders for KLA declined 43 percent sequentially during the quarter to $486 million, Wallace said.
Wallace said KLA is seeing strong demand for tools for 28-nm process technology. Chip builders are investing to overcome challenges to yield at that node, he said. KLA is scrambling to meet demand for some of its leading-edge technology products from multiple foundries, he said. "Right now, it looks very good," Wallace said.
Foundries accounted for 57 percent of KLA's new orders during the quarter, and Wallace said the company expects growth in orders from foundries to continue during the current quarter. Foundry demand is being lead by market leaders ramping up their 28-nm process technology, Wallace said.
KLA said it expects sales for the current quarter to fall to between $600 million and $650 million, a steep decline of between 18 and 25 percent. The company said it expects bookings for the quarter to improve by between 25 percent and 45 percent. KLA said it expects revenue growth to improve in the calendar first quarter of 2012.
KLA's guidance came in well short of consensus analysts' expectations of about $710 million, according to Yahoo Finance.
Wallace said KLA is hopeful that memory suppliers will soon being to increase capacity investments. "We do see hope for memory, but we didn't see much action," Wallace said. It’s more talk and less action right now at this point in terms of investment."
Christopher Muse, an analyst with Barclays Capital, said he and fellow analysts were surprised by the magnitude of the increased foundry spending expected, but added that he has been expecting all along that foundry investment in 28- and 32-nm technologies would be a beacon of strong business in the downturn.
Novellus, Teradyne, Cadence
Novellus (San Jose, Calif.) reported sales of $306.7 million for the quarter ended Sept. 24, down 12 percent from the previous quarter and down 17 percent from the year-ago quarter. Novellus said its net income for the third quarter was $51.1 million, or 73 cents per share, a decline of $13.6 million from the second quarter and a decline of $25.2 million from the third quarter of 2010.
Novellus said its third quarter bookings decline to $226.9 million, down 27 percent from the previous quarter. Shipments amounted to $301.6 million, down 16.1 percent from the second quarter, Novellus said.
"The current global market volatility has affected capital intensive business investment but we are optimistic that the underlying demand for technology products will enable us to profitably ride through this period of uncertainty," said Richard Hill, Novellus chairman and CEO, in a statement.
"Specific to Novellus, we see continued uncertainty regarding the true opportunity in adjacent markets and gross margin headwinds from the Industrial business, with the main source of EPS upside coming from buybacks," Muse said.
Automated test equipment supplier Teradyne (North Reading, Mass.) reported third quarter sales of $344 million, down 16 percent from the previous quarter and down 30 percent from the third quarter of 2010. Teradyne reported a GAAP net income of about $192 million, or $1.15 per share, up 25 percent compared to the year-ago quarter.
Teradyne reported bookings of $240 million in the third quarter, $196 million from semiconductor test and $44 million from its system test group. The company did not say how the bookings compared with previous quarters.
"Semiconductor test orders and revenue softened in line with industry trends during the quarter, but we continued to see relative strength in the mobility segments driven by power management, image sensors, wireless and mobile processors," said Mike Bradley, Teradyne president and CEO, in a statement.
Teradyne said it expects sales to further decline in the fourth quarter to between $270 million and $300 million. Teradyne's fourth quarter guidance was generally in line with consensus analysts' expectations, according to Yahoo Finance.
Cadence (San Jose, Calif.) reported third quarter sales of $292 million, an increase of 23 percent compared to the third quarter of 2010. The company recognized a net income for the quarter of $28 million, or 10 cents per share, down from $127 million and 48 cents per share in the year ago quarter, when the company's results were boosted by a tax settlement.
Cadence's third quarter sales exceeded consensus analysts' of about $285 million and the company's non-GAAP earnings of 14 cents per share exceeded consensus analysts' expectations of 12 cents per share, according to Yahoo Finance.
Cadence and other EDA vendors recognize revenue over the life of a contract, not at the time of sale. EDA revenues tend to lag semiconductor industry upturns and downturns by several months.
"Strong design activity in multiple market segments continues to drive demand for our products and solutions," said Lip-Bu Tan, Cadence president and CEO, in a statement.
Cadence said it expects its revenue to grow in the fourth quarter to between $295 million and $305 million. The company said it expects its fourth quarter net income to be between 8 and 10 cents per share. For the full year, Cadence said it expects sales to be between $1.135 billion and $1.145 billion. The company said it expects to report an income for the year of 31 to 33 cents per share.
"Given the risks in the world economy we looked at our prospective Q4 business very closely, but still see good demand for products and services as reflected in our increased outlook," said Geoff Ribar, Cadence's senior vice president and chief financial officer.
