Are You Part of a Healthy, Competitive Supply Chain?
Critical subsystems technologies for semiconductor applications are highly engineered and specialised pieces of equipment. By their nature, only a select group of companies are able to produce these products to the high specifications demanded by...
Critical Subsystems Suppliers’ R&D Spend Holding Up
Despite a tough year for critical subsystem suppliers, their overall expenditure on research and development has remained at near record levels – evidence that critical subsystems are indeed critical to the semiconductor manufacturing equipment...
Chillers… A Surprisingly Hot Market
The market for chillers and heat exchangers used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment has more than doubled since 2014 and is expected to reach a total value of $383 million in 2019. The 18 percent compound annual growth rate of this segment...
Critical Subsystems: Mapping Out Risks Posed by Growing Trade War
The recent anti-globalization political rhetoric veering towards nationalism raises a number of challenges for the semiconductor supply chain. Throughout the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, and now the dispute between South Korea and Japan, most...
Size Matters … at Least in the Critical Subsystems Supply Chain
Clouds continue to persist over the semiconductor supply chain with little sign of lifting. In March, the decline in week-over-year chip sales appeared to be slowing, providing a glimmer of hope for the beginning of a new cycle. However, the...
Critical Subsystems in the Sub Fab
The value of critical subsystems sold for use in the sub fab is outgrowing the overall market for critical subsystems. Driven by the increased complexity of leading edge fabs and the growing vacuum intensity of semiconductor manufacturing, both...
Record Revenues for Critical Subsystems Suppliers in 2018 Despite Collapse in Orders
Critical subsystems for the IC equipment market continued to grow to a new record of $11 billion in 2018. While 2019 is expected to be a downturn year, the long-term outlook remains unchanged with an average growth rate of 3 percent.
Critical Subsystems Orders Fall Off a Cliff
Orders for critical subsystems evaporated in the second half of 2018 after a very strong start to the year. Subsystems suppliers have been left with depleted order books after OEMs accumulated large inventories as the market for wafer fab...
Vacuum Subsystems: Largest and Fastest-Growing Market
Vacuum pumps, pressure gauges and vacuum valves combined make up the biggest expense on the bill of materials for semiconductor OEMs. In 2017, almost $2.5 billion worth of vacuum subsystems were consumed by the semiconductor industry with over...
Critical Subsystem Supply Chain Consolidation Stalls
Years of industry consolidation in the critical subsystems market appears to be coming to an end.
