June 29, 2006 – After a 20% surge in 2005, the probe card market is expected to enjoy another solid year of growth in 2006 due largely for memory test needs, according to a new report from VLSI Research Inc.

The firm projects the market for probe cards used in testing semiconductor wafers to surge about 19% to reach nearly $1 billion, up from $838 million in 2005 and $702 million in 2004. Most of the growth was due to demand for advanced probe cards, including vertical, membrane, spring, and MEMS technologies, due to demand for memory testing as well as complex logic and bump wafer test. Demand for cantilever probe cards grew only slightly in 2005.

Top suppliers mainly held their positions in 2005 compared with 2004, led by FormFactor which more than doubled revenues to take about 23% share. Kulicke & Soffa’s test division slid to fourth place, due to a 24% drop in revenues. Japan Electronic Materials increased revenues by 13%, while Micronics Japan added about 20% to sales.

2005 rank…..Company…………………………2005 ($M)…..2004 rank…..2004 ($M)
1………….FormFactor………………………237.5……….1…………117.8
2………….Japan Electronic Materials………..130.9……….2…………115.7
3………….Micronics Japan Co. Ltd……………78.8……….4…………65.1
4………….Kulicke & Soffa (test division)…….49.5……….3…………65.2
5………….Tokyo Cathode Labs Inc…………….39.0……….5…………35.8