Japan

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) players are poised to seize a new growth opportunity after the chip shortage pushed manufacturers to announce fab capacity expansions worldwide. Driven by the wafer production volume increase, ALD solutions are now expected to grow and enter the MtM devices market.

After ther disruption caused by COVID-19, four of SEMI’s seven flagship events, SEMICON Europa, SEMICON West, SEMICON Japan, and SEMICON Taiwan are set to welcome back exhibitors and visitors to show floors starting in mid-November.

Vacuum pumps, pressure gauges, and vacuum valves combined make up the biggest expense on the bill of materials for semiconductor OEMs. The semiconductor industry consumed almost $2.7 billion worth of vacuum subsystems in 2020, with over 60% supplied by vendors based in Europe.

Global fab equipment spending promises to crawl out of a gloomy 2019 and see a modest recovery this year before a sharp uptick drives record investments in 2021 in a vivid display of the decades-old cyclicality playing out in the semiconductor industry.

What will the New Year bring? Purchasing Managers Indices (PMIs) are a good leading indicator of present and near-term manufacturing activity by country.

SEMI spoke with Michael Strübin, Director of Digital Health at MedTech Europe, about how healthcare systems are moving towards a sustainable path through improvements in areas such as prevention of illness, patient empowerment, lean systems and low-carbon alternatives.

The global electronics industry normally experiences a seasonal upturn from mid-summer through the December holidays. However, this autumn’s upturn is less robust.

The recent anti-globalization political rhetoric raises a number of challenges for the semiconductor supply chain. Throughout the ongoing US-China trade war, and now the dispute between South Korea and Japan, most attention has focused on the consequences for players at the top of the supply chain.

The photomask market has seen exceptional growth of 13% and 8% in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The upsurge is striking given that, in the early to mid-2000s, the photomask market averaged less than 4 percent annual growth. And the gap between the past two years and the previous ten is remarkable.

For the semiconductor industry, 2018 was nothing if not incredible. Chip revenue shot up to $469 billion, trouncing the record-setting $412 billion reached in 2017 to reach a new high. Both semiconductor equipment and materials hit record revenues of $65 billion and $52 billion, respectively.