Steve DeCollibus, Managing Editor, Semiconductor Packaging News

The attendance had appeared light at the SEMICON West show and was confirmed yesterday when SEMI announced that indeed it had dropped 25% the first day. Numbers have not been announced for Tuesday. The mood here remains up beat and the people who have come, seem to be having a good show, with many booking new orders and closing business.

Another trend this year is smaller booths. There are still the large corporate statements we have seen in the past being made by industry leaders, many of whom are local to the Northern California area. Many of the new and emerging companies as well as a large number of technical and equipment companies have opted for less space.

We spoke to many companies today who were having a very good year, and while concerned about economic conditions, their businesses are doing well.

John Byers, Asymtek

At the show many companies were becoming involved in new technologies. Here is what John Byers had to say about the growing interest in solar and LED products.

"Demand for solar and LED products is rising along with growing environmental concerns. Although solar panel technology has been around for years, manufacturers are looking for solutions that increase volume and decrease costs so that solar energy is not only the right thing to do environmentally, but is also economically feasible.

In a similar vein, LEDs have proven technologies and are finding widespread success in many diverse applications. The main challenge for LED manufacturers is to continue the success by ramping production to meet demand."

We visited many companies which were proud of their accomplishments so far this year. Juki is having a very good year in the placement market and was awarded an “Attendees Choice" award today.

Bob Black, President of Juki Automation Systems, right, displays the Attendees Choice Award, assisted by Ken Cavallaro of Semiconductor Packaging News

We also spoke to Joe Bubel, President of Hesse & Knipps in North America who is having a very good year. Their booth was crowded both Tuesday and Wednesday from attendees wanting to learn more. Since several companies did not bring much equipment to the show, the booths with equipment seemed to be quite busy.

We had a great introductory meeting with IMEC's Jan Provoost, Scientific Editor Business Development. We will be hearing more from IMEC on these pages in the months to come. IMEC is a very unique and forward thinking consortium stationed in Leuvan, Belgium that has had and is having a great impact on the semiconductor industry. They work with some of the biggest and best companies in the world and are an open community dedicated to research and innovation. They work with and welcome any company considering innovation.

Scott Kulicke spoke to a group of us at the annual Kulicke & Soffa press luncheon and was entertaining and informative as he discussed many topics including the reexamination of shifting from gold to copper wire given the price of gold today.

Viscom was another company which was launching new technology for the Semiconductor packaging market. Their new AOI solutions are designed for high speed wire bond inspection.

We also met the management of PVA TePla who were demonstrating their microwave plasma technology. The technology is used in a wide range of applications for semiconductor packaging, MEMS, and photovoltaic production.

Tomorrow is the final day of the show, we will have a wrap up for you then.