Moov, the largest and fastest growing global marketplace for used semiconductor equipment, today announced it will be expanding its presence in Taipei with a new office located in Taipei and dedicated staff on the ground. The company will also be exhibiting at Semicon® Taiwan booth N1191 (Hall 1 – 4F).

“We are excited and humbled by our success in the world’s more important semiconductor manufacturing market, said Steven Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Moov Technologies. “We already work with over 700 companies in the region to help end users source equipment to meet their production needs and easily offload idle assets. Our expansion in the region will continue to support our end-to-end procurement and resale capabilities, including inspection, logistics, and assurance services.”

To support expansion in the region, Moov has hired 5 full-time employees in its new Taipei office, including sales manager Joe Tseng, who joins Moov from Keyence Corporation where he served as National Sales Director.

While political tides are changing when it comes to an international semiconductor supply chain, Moov’s global marketplace for buying and selling pre-owned semiconductor manufacturing equipment helps chipmakers continue to benefit from the global trade of these high value, highly sought-after assets, while staying in line with current trade regulations.

“There is immense value in enabling fabrication centers to buy and sell equipment from other fabrication centers around the world,” said Zhou. “The world’s demand for chips will continue to grow. To meet it, a secondary market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment is critical to provide manufacturers with increased flexibility to adapt to changing markets.”

Moov’s announcement comes at a time when semiconductor equipment manufacturers are also planning increased investment to support the local TSMC foundry ecosystem, according to reporting by Digitimes. According to data from SEMI, the world’s leading trade association for electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, Taiwan currently leads the world in spending on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Easy access to equipment is critical for fabrication centers looking to expand local capacity quickly.

“One aspect we pride ourselves on at Moov is our ability to get fabrication centers the tools they need expediently and seamlessly, and to provide transparency throughout the procurement process,” said Moov’s Director of Customer Success, Raymond Mahon. “We’re able to expedite the turnaround time on obtaining a replacement tool by months. In operating costs, this could equate to hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition, Moov’s platform provides transparency in buying used equipment, where historically there has been none. Knowing exactly where and how your cargo is being transported is vital given the high-dollar value of this equipment.”

Additionally, Moov eliminates purchase risk for manufacturers sourcing used equipment with its no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee, according to SEMI, the California-based global association that represents the electronics and supply-chain design industries.

If you are a company in the region looking to buy or sell semiconductor manufacturing equipment, contact [email protected].

About Moov Technologies Inc.
Headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and Austin, Texas, Moov is a technology-driven marketplace and asset management platform that matches buyers and sellers of pre-owned semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Built by a team with more than 50 years of experience in the manufacturing equipment brokerage industry, Moov’s platform ensures accurate listings and faster transactions. CEO Steven Zhou and Managing Director Maxam Yeung co-founded the company in 2017. To learn more, please visit Moov.co.

• Read more about Moov, the Largest Global Marketplace for Semiconductor Equipment, Expands Presence in Taipei

Sikama International, a trusted provider of state-of-the-art reflow systems is proud to announce their new partnership with CMT, a global leader specializing in back-end semiconductor solutions.

CMT was formed in August 2010 by Mr. CW Kwak, who has over 30 years experience in the semiconductor industry. CMT offers both material and equipment solutions in the back-end semiconductor assembly market.

CMT is a unique global marketing and sales company. CMT focuses on a micro-level marketing working directly with clients and customers through offering specific projects, right beta sites, and global project management. CMT focuses on short-term projects to deliver sales on client’s current products, then offers mid-term projects for next 2-3 years, and long-term programs 5-10 years out to deliver continuous long-term growth and sustainability.

Sikama’s new partnership with CMT will enable both companies to expand their reach to provide customers with an expansive range of solutions on a global platform.

About Sikama
For over 40 years, Sikama International has offered highly reliable equipment and is the trusted option of manufacturers worldwide.

• Read more about Sikama International Strengthens Worldwide Distributor Network by Partnering with CMT Global to Support Korean and International Markets

Sikama’s sintering pre-dry ovens offer conductive heating in a controlled environment with adjustable O2 levels as low as 5ppm in a footprint of less than 1 square meter. With their compact design, highly efficient conductive thermal transfer to high-mass components, and the lowest carbon footprint in the industry, Sikama’s products are the perfect fit for any power electronics production line. Additionally, with only 15 minutes before reaching temperature set points, energy costs and gas requirements are kept to a minimum.

With SMEMA and SECS/GEM capability and customizable profiling, their Ultra Profile and Falcon series ovens seamlessly integrate into the automated production line. Providing accurate and consistent temperatures, controlled cooling rates, and each zone fully adjustable to within 1°C, the guesswork is removed from the pre-drying process. With multidirectional process flow using either sweeper bar or walking beam transport systems and the lowest vibration and power consumption in the industry, Sikama has a configuration for any need.

About Sikama
For over 40 years, Sikama International has offered highly reliable equipment and is the trusted option of manufacturers worldwide.

• Read more about Sikama International Announces Product Support for Copper and Silver Sintering Applications Used in the Power Electronics and EV Markets

Wooptix SL, a company based in Tenerife, Madrid and San Francisco, has announced the signing of a 10-million-dollar Series B financing round. The round includes participation by: Bullnet Capital, CDTI (Centre for the Development of Technology and Innovation), Danobatgroup, European Innovation Council Fund (EIC), Fagor Automation, Intel Capital, Mondragón Promotion and Tel Ventures.

The company is focused on commercializing semiconductor metrology equipment incorporating wavefront phase imaging. “Phemet®, the system developed by Wooptix, measures the silicon wafer warpage, and its accuracy is a “significant advance in the industry,” affirms José Manuel Ramos, Founder and CEO of the company.

Wooptix's patented technology enables blank and patterned wafer-shape measurement in less time and with higher resolution than current systems being used in the industry. "Wooptix's wavefront sensor and its semiconductor applications are generating interest from key players in the semiconductor industry as evidenced by the Series B financing round,” explains Javier Elizalde, Co-founder and COO.

The company has been recognized as well by the EIC Accelerator Program through a 2.5M€ grant in addition to the equity investment. The grant and investment support Wooptix's product introduction and future technological innovation including the manufacture, delivery, and installation of three semiconductor metrology tools in Japan, the USA and the Netherlands this year.

"Keeping in mind that each Phemet® is only a metric ton weight, together with the sensitivity of the instrument components that enable measurements at the nanometer scale, Wooptix demonstrates a world-class engineering and operations capability,” continues Elizalde.

Next steps
Wooptix has a well defined roadmap for each product line to meet the needs of lab and fab customers. In the case of the semiconductor metrology business unit, the next step is to automate Phemet®. Enhanced automation will reduce risk of contamination of wafers under measurement and provide consistent reproducibility to the system. Due to the flexibility of Wooptix’s design, another step is to integrate Phemet® into existing semiconductor equipment platforms from tool vendors.

Phemet® and the Series B financing round demonstrate Wooptix’s growth and maturity as it begins initial tool deliveries to customers. "It is really valuable for us to transition now from an R&D company to become a product and manufacturing company. With this objective in mind, we are building the necessary infrastructure, including procedures and certifications to protocols and management teamwork, to support customers as we enter the market," explains José Manuel Ramos.

Semiconductor Equipment Industry in Numbers
According with SEMI (the global semiconductor industry association) the semiconductor equipment sales forecast for 2023 is $87 billion. "The semiconductor equipment market will see a strong rebound in 2024,” said Ajit Manocha, SEMI President and CEO. "Projections for robust long-term growth driven by high-performance computing and ubiquitous connectivity remain intact.”

As reported by SEMI, the wafer fab equipment segment is projected to account for the bulk of the recovery to $100 billion in 2024, generating $87.8 billion in sales, a 14.8% increase.

About Wooptix
Wooptix is a leader in semiconductor metrology through wavefront phase imaging, a technique derived from adaptive optics research in astronomy. With a multidisciplinary team, Wooptix aims to disrupt the semiconductor metrology industry with the highest lateral resolution and fastest measurement technique for inline fab measurements.

The company has developed Phemet®, a wafer shape lab tool for blank and patterned wafers, ahead of the upcoming fully automated fab tool, expected in 2024. Wooptix has already deployed Phemet® at several customer sites worldwide.

Wooptix is based at Tenerife, Madrid (Spain) and San Francisco (USA).

• Read more about Wooptix closes $11 million Series B financing round