Technavio’s latest market research report on the global lithography systems market provides an analysis of the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2018-2022. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline.
According to Technavio market research analysts, the CAGR for the global lithography systems market is projected to be over 5% during the forecast period. However, the growth momentum of the market is expected to decelerate due to a decrease in the year-over-year growth.
One of the major drivers for the growth of the global lithography systems market is the increasing investments toward construction of new fabs and expanding older facilities. Growing investments in autonomous technologies (for cars) and increasing interest in robotics is creating a demand for semiconductor chips, which form a core component for the working of these devices. To meet this production of ICs, there will be an increasing demand for more number of fabs.
In this report, Technavio highlights the increasing sizes of wafers as one of the key emerging trends driving the global lithography systems market:
Increasing sizes of wafers
Increasing investments toward introducing a 400-mm wafer size is a major trend. A 450-mm wafer (18 inches) will have a larger surface area, which indicates that a high number of chips can be produced, at low manufacturing costs. Increasing the size of wafers reduces the manufacturing costs by almost 30%. Firms are showing an increasing interest in the production of 450-mm sized wafers. For example, Intel has invested in R&D for 450 mm and is building a production facility for the same.
According to a senior analyst at semiconductor equipment research, “One of the major undertakings to develop 450-mm wafers is the G450C, a consortium that includes major firms such as IBM, Intel, TSMC, Samsung, and GLOBALFOUNDRIES. The consortium aims to develop the 450-mm wafer and manufacture the required equipment to process 450-mm wafers.”
Technavio’s sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.
Global lithography systems market segmentation
This market research report segments the global lithography systems market by technology (ArF immersion lithography systems, EUV lithography systems, KrF lithography systems, ArF dry lithography systems, and i-line lithography systems), by end-user (IDMs and pureplay foundries), and key regions (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA).
The IDMs segment dominated the market in 2017, accounting for a share of over 68%, followed by the pureplay foundries segment. Firms that have dedicated logic and dedicated memory foundries are considered under this segment. Memory chips such as DRAM and NAND chips are made in dedicated memory chip factories, while logic chips process information in electronic devices.
APAC dominated the global lithography systems market in 2017, accounting for a share of close to 71%, followed by the Americas and EMEA. APAC is expected to witness an increase of close to 1% in its market share while the other two regions are expected to witness a decline by 2022.