Cognex Corporation acquires Siemens' semiconductor wafer identification business

Citation

(2003), "Cognex Corporation acquires Siemens' semiconductor wafer identification business", Sensor Review, Vol. 23 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/sr.2003.08723cab.013

Cognex Corporation acquires Siemens' semiconductor wafer identification business

Cognex Corporation acquires Siemens' semiconductor wafer identification business

Keywords: Inspection, Semiconductors, Machine vision, Cognex

Cognex Corporation, a leading supplier of machine vision systems, has announced that it has acquired the wafer identification business of Siemens Dematic AG, a subsidiary of Siemens AG. Siemens Dematic is the world's leading supplier of logistics and factory automation equipment, and has been the leading supplier of wafer identification systems to semiconductor manufacturers in Europe.

Under the terms of agreement, Cognex acquired, for an undisclosed amount of cash, the rights to all of Siemens' patented and unpatented wafer identification technology, as well as the related assets of their wafer identification business. The acquisition was completed on 31 March.

"Cognex has been in the wafer identification business since our company was founded in 198l," said Dr Robert J. Shillman, Cognex's CEO and Chairman. "In fact, our very first product – called Dataman – was a wafer reader. Since then, Cognex has grown to be the leading provider of wafer identification systems in North America and Asia. This acquisition establishes Cognex as the leading supplier in Europe as well, and enhances our position as the top supplier worldwide."

"While the wafer identification business at Siemens was very successful, it was too small to get the visibility it deserved within a multi-billion dollar global corporation," said Dr Peter Drexel, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens Dematic. "For this reason we have decided to spin it out. We chose Cognex because of their industry leadership and their many years of experience with wafer readers. And, because Cognex is a global company with an excellent reputation for sales and service, we know that our customers will be in very good hands."