Tech Hardware Supply Chain - Gazhoo

Bhavin Shah
(852) 2800-8538
bhavin.a.shah@jpmorgan.com
Wafer fab equipment
category Function J.P. Morgan growth expectations Major players
Chemical mechanical CMP equipment is used to planarize or flatten out the hills and valleys on a particular We expect the high cost of process-related consumables and increasing competition to Applied Materials
polishing (CMP) film or layer after deposition. CMP equipment usage has grown significantly since its offset the modest growth from increasing interconnect layers and CMP applications, Ebara
mainstream introduction in mid 1990s.
keeping this equipment segment’s overall revenue growth below-average industry Novellus
growth. Tokyo Seimitsu
Electrochemical ECD equipment is used to deposit the copper metal that forms interconnects within a ECD equipment productivity increases at each new technology node, offsetting the Novellus
deposition (ECD) semiconductor device.
high growth rate of copper-based production and increased interconnect layers, limiting Semitool
system unit growth and bringing this equipment segment’s overall growth in line with
the industry.
Applied Materials
Ion Implant Ion implant equipment is used to “dope” or physically insert specific ions into the silicon Each new device generation requires incrementally more implants in order to tune Varian
that is the basis for the gate structure.
transistor performance. Additionally, the ongoing transition from multi-wafer processing Axcelis/SEN
to single-wafer processing reduces system productivity, driving the need for more unit Nissin Electric
shipments at each new technology node. We believe a combination of these factors is Applied Materials
likely to drive Ion Implant revenue growth at a higher rate than the overall wafer fab
equipment industry.
ULVAC
Epitaxial deposition Silicon epitaxial equipment is used to grow a high quality layer of silicon on the surface The development of silicon germanium (SiGe) for enhanced transistor performance in Applied Materials
(Epi)
of a wafer onto which the transistor structures will be built. By building the transistor advanced logic devices adds new applications for Epitaxial deposition. However, the ASM International
structure on top of a previously deposited silicon germanium (SiGe) layer, the
trend toward more complex system architectures with higher productivity is likely to LPE
performance of the transistor can be significantly enhanced.
negate the growth potential provided by this new SiGe application and cause this New Flare
equipment segment to perform in line with the overall wafer fab equipment industry. Technologies
Process control Process control equipment is one of the most diverse segments including equipment We expect that the continued introduction of new materials, more complex transistor KLA-Tencor
for inspection, defect review and analysis, critical dimension measurement, and thin structures and lithography will require incrementally more process control steps and Hitachi High-Tech
film metrology.
corresponding equipment at each new technology node in order to maintain acceptable Applied Materials
yield levels. We believe these factors will drive process control revenue to outgrow the Nanometrics
wafer fab equipment industry average. Vistec Semi Sys
Manufacturing
automation and
control
Source: J.P. Morgan.
Asia Pacific Equity Research
20 April 2009
Factory automation and control encompass a very diverse segment, as it includes the
equipment used to transfer, store, and sort both wafers and photo-masks within a fab
and also includes the software needed to integrate and control equipment for the entire
manufacturing process.
As more semiconductor manufacturers build 300mm facilities, manufacturing
automation/control adoption should outpace the overall wafer fab equipment industry in
terms of unit growth. However, this is a highly competitive segment, and ASPs are
expected to remain under severe pressure, causing it to grow below the overall
Asyst Tech
Brooks Auto
Daifuku
IBM
equipment average. Hewlett-Packard
305