Executives to discuss adapting to the pressures of consumerization at SEMI SBC 2007

Qualcomm and Microsoft executives to deliver keynote addresses

SEMI announced that Brad Brooks, general manager, Windows Vista at Microsoft; Jim Clifford, senior vice president and general manager, CDMA Technologies at Qualcomm; and Art Zafiropoulo, chairman, CEO and president of Ultratech, Inc. will deliver keynote addresses at the Strategic Business Conference 2007 (SBC), which will be held at the Meritage Resort in Napa, California, April 23-25. Focusing on the concept of "consumerization," the conference will feature numerous industry leading speakers participating in five half-day sessions, a panel discussion, and three major networking events.

SBC is an annual conference hosted by SEMI for manufacturing and technology executives and their suppliers. This year's conference theme - Smaller, Faster, Cheaper: The Impact of Consumer Electronics on the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Industry - addresses the key challenges and opportunities for companies in the global marketplace.

Targeted at chief operating officers, chief technology officers, general managers, product managers, and sales and marketing executives, SBC's agenda features sessions including "How Consumer Electronics Influences the Semiconductor Industry," "The IDM perspective: How Consumerization Drives New Products and Capacity," "The Next Level: Manufacturing Responds to the Consumer Market," "How Consumerization Breaks Down Traditional Business Models," and "Success Stories from the Consumer Era."

Speakers include:
-- Craig Ignaszewski, director of Technology Procurement, IBM
-- Mike Thompson, manufacturing operation general manager, STMicroelectronics
-- Ajit Manocha, executive vice president and general manager, chief manufacturing officer, NXP Semiconductors
-- Samuel T. Wang, president, SMIC Americas

*For a full list of speakers, please visit www.semi.org  

The panel discussion, entitled "Adapt or Die," will discuss the ramifications of ignoring consumer market demands for increased value, shorter development cycles and even shorter product life cycles, In this discussion, the panelists will examine market factors driving the need for change, and will cite various examples from up and down the supply chain.

At SBC 2007, speakers representing a broad range of IDMs will explain the implications of these new realities for equipment-and-materials suppliers and present their roadmaps, expectations and insights for success. Attendees will have opportunities to talk, one-on-one, with leading industry manufacturing and technology executives from IDMs, OEMs and foundries.

To register or for additional information and an updated agenda visit www.semi.org