Analyst: Top IC suppliers remain largely unchanged 2007

Mar. 18, 2008 – Despite a late-year slowdown among industry and US economic uncertainty, 2007 turned out to be a decent year for major IC and related equipment suppliers, with just a few shufflings in the rankings reflecting marketshare gains and losses, according to new data from VLSI Research.

The top 10 IC/related equipment suppliers collectively posted annual sales of $33.5B, a 10% increase from 2006, and outpacing the overall chip-tool industry’s 8% growth (to $57.5B), according to VLSI’s numbers. The rankings include suppliers of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors, thin-film heads, and MEMS (but not FPDs), and include service/support and refurbished systems.

Applied Materials once again led the way (though with just 3.4% growth, well below the average of the other top suppliers), followed by TEL, ASML, KLA-Tencor, and Lam Research. Nikon and Advantest switched places at Nos. 6-7; Hitachi High-Tech climbed from 11th to 9th, while DNS fell one spot to No. 10. Canon, a familiar resident of the top 10, fell to No. 11 losing marketshare to litho competitors ASML and Nikon with their immersion tools, according to Ha Pham, senior market analyst with VLSI Research.

Best growth in 2007 among the top 15 firms went to Varian Semi. Equip. Assoc., which has solidified a “monopoly” in the ion implant sector vs. Axcelis and SEN (and with the recent exit of Applied Materials), Pham told WaferNEWS. She expects VSEA to continue to be the dominant player in 2008, despite indications from Axcelis that it’s finally recording sales of its delayed Optima HD tool.

A quick look at the underperformers on the 2007 top IC tool suppliers roster indicates it wasn’t a great year for backend firms (Advantest -13%, Teradyne -19%, Verigy -19%). Pham noted that 2008 should be a little better, indicating that particularly Teradyne should regain ground close to its 2006 levels (~$1.09B, implying ~20% growth) due to its recent purchase of Nextest and new inroads into the memory segment.

Other tidbits from the new rankings:

– Eleven of the top 15 suppliers saw positive growth in 2007.
– The top 15 suppliers represented an even two-thirds (67%) of the total market, up from 65% a year ago.
– Regional representation among the top 15 didn’t change a whole lot from 2006, with the US (47%) and Europe (16%) both adding a percentage point in terms of total revenues, while Japan (37%) lost two percentage points.


Top 10 IC equipment suppliers in 2007*

(Revenues in US $M)

Company……………………………………2007……….vs. 2006 (%)

Applied Materials………………………8523……….8494 (3.4)
Tokyo Electron Ltd…………………….6291……….5072 (24.0)
ASML………………………………………..5145……….4538 (13.4)
KLA-Tencor……………………………….2781……….2357 (18.0)
Lam Research…………………………..2624……….2201 (19.2)
Nikon…………………………………………2148………1895 (13.4)
Advantest………………………………….1657……….1906 (-13.1)
Novellus Systems………………………1555……….1637 (-5.0)
Hitachi High-Technologies………..1445……….1272 (13.6)
Dainippon Screen Mfg………………1330……….1323 (0.5)


Top 10…………………………………….33,499……….30,620 (9.4)
Total industry…………………………..57,500……….53,500 (7.5)
Top 10 % of total………………………58.3%……….57.2%…..–


Next five:
Canon………………………………………..1309……….1287 (1.7)
ASMI………………………………………….1172……….967 (21.2)
Varian Semi. Equip. Assoc…………1074……….786 (36.6)
Teradyne……………………………………..876……….1086 (-19.3)
Verigy…………………………………………..762……….941** (-19.0)

*Includes revenues from IC & related system sales, service, and support. FPD equipment revenues are not included.
** spun out of Agilent Technologies in June 2006

Source: VLSI Research Inc.

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