April 25, 2007 – The top 10 suppliers of semiconductor equipment remained largely unchanged in 2006, even though only half beat the entire equipment industry’s 23% growth rate, according to new data from VLSI Research.

Best growth among the biggest-selling suppliers went to Lam Research, which leapfrogged Advantest and Nikon with 59% growth to take the No. 5 spot, behind perennial 1-4 firms Applied Materials, TEL, ASML, and KLA-Tencor. Other top-10 firms beating the industry’s overall 23% growth rate included AMAT (33.7%), ASML (37.9%), Novellus (25.7%), and DNS (32.0%), which swapped places this year with No. 11 Hitachi High-Technologies.

The big firms still got a little fatter, though, as the AMAT-TEL-ASML-KLAC quartet now represents a full two-thirds of the top 10 firms’ sales, and ~38% of the total $53.5 billion equipment industry.

By equipment segment, wafer-fab tools led the pack with 28% growth in 2006, with test/related equipment increasing 14%, and assembly rising 8%, the analyst firm noted. The data encompasses sales of equipment used in manufacturing semiconductors, thin film heads, and MEMS devices, including wafer processing tools, test and related equipment, and assembly equipment, plus the value of service and support.

VLSI also pegged Verigy as a footnote to its 2006 equipment supplier list — though technically ineligible since it was spun off in June 2006 from former parent Agilent Technologies, Verigy’s sales in the first half of the year would have bumped it well into the top 15.

Top 10 IC equipment suppliers in 2006*
(Sales in US $M)

2006 rank……….Company…………………………………………..2006 sales………………..vs. 2005 (%)

1…………………….Applied Materials…………………………8404…………………………6286 (33.7)
2…………………….Tokyo Electron Ltd……………………….5072…………………………4455 (13.8)
3…………………….ASML……………………………………………4538…………………………3160 (37.9)
4…………………….KLA-Tencor………………………………….2357…………………………2005 (17.6)
5…………………….Lam Research……………………………..2201…………………………1382 (59.3)
6…………………….Advantest……………………………………..1906…………………………1747 (9.1)
7…………………….Nikon……………………………………………1895…………………………1566 (21.0)
8…………………….Novellus Systems………………………..1637…………………………1302 (25.7)
9…………………….Dainippon Screen Mfg…………………1323…………………………1002 (32.0)
10…………………..Canon…………………………………………..1287…………………………1088 (18.3)
TOP 10………………..–……………………………………………30,620……………………..23,993 (27.6%)
———————————————————————-
11…………………….Hitachi High-Tech……………………….1272…………………………1215 (4.7)
12…………………….Teradyne……………………………………..1086…………………………814 (33.4)
13…………………….ASMI………………………………………………967…………………………819 (18.1)
14…………………….Varian…………………………………………….786…………………………606 (29.7)
15…………………….Accretech-Tokyo Seimitsu……………..637…………………………593 (7.4)
–……………………..*Verigy…………………………………………….941…………………………466 (101.9)
TOTAL INDUSTRY……………………………………………….53,500………………………..N/A (23%)

*Includes revenues from IC & related system sales, service, and support. FPD equipment revenues are not included.
**Spun off in June 2006; data includes 1H06 sales as part of Agilent Technologies

WaferNEWS source: VLSI Research Inc.