Silicon Strategies schrijft dat zowel Hynix als STMicroelectronics zich terugtrekken uit International Sematech. Dit consortium verenigt fabrikanten van halfgeleiders om op die manier kosten en risico's te delen. STMicro was naar eigen zeggen door budgettaire redenen genoodzaakt de verbinding te verbreken. Het wegvallen van Hynix is waarschijnlijk slechts tijdelijk en is te wijten is aan herstructureringen binnen het bedrijf. Hynix blijft zelfs nog betrokken bij Sematech en zal zich wellicht later in 2003 opnieuw aansluiten bij de groepering. Bij STMicro is hier nog geen sprake van, hoewel Sematech dit wel graag zou willen:
STMicroelectronics, on the other hand, is thriving, relatively speaking. The Franco-Italian company is fourth in the 2002 Gartner-Dataquest ranking of chip companies, with an estimated $6.3 billion in revenues. STMicro is expected to report its financial results on Jan. 22nd, a spokesman for the company said. Only Intel, Samsung, and Toshiba are larger players in the semiconductor industry. The Sematech spokesman said that STMicro faces "budget bandwidth" issues.
Philips, Motorola, and STMicro have formed their own cooperative research effort, based in Crolles, France, and STMicro found it difficult to divide its money and research management bandwidth between Sematech and the Crolles effort. With two cooperative research efforts to fund, "their money only goes so far, and we are trying to develop innovative funding mechanisms to welcome them back," the spokesman said.
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