Photolithography Equipment Market

The global photolithography equipment market was valued at $8.04 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $11.64 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 4.7% from 2020 to 2027. 

Increased demand for medical electronics devices during the COVID-19 pandemic fuel the growth of ultraviolet photolithography equipment

Lithography is a process in which a pattern from a photomask is transferred to the surface of wafer. During the lithography process, the wafer gets exposed to ultraviolet laser beam, in which the ultraviolet laser beam passes through photomask layer without a pattern and is irradiated onto photoresist on a wafer. Photolithography, electron beam, X-ray, extreme ultraviolet, ion projection, and immersion lithography are the different types of lithography process.

Photolithography plays a critical role in the modern semiconductor industry, and is being adopted in various industry verticals, globally. It defines the line dimensions in semiconductor wafer before etching, therefore dominating the pattern resolution. Steps in the scanner of photolithography system to produce wafer include coating photoresist, soft bake, exposure, post bake, development, and hard bake. Subsequently, the wafer is sent for sizing and etching. Photolithography is used owing to its ability to perform highly precise incisions. It is a highly complex technique that requires both an extremely clean substrate surface and ideal temperature conditions.

The key factors that drive the photolithography equipment market growth include high demand for miniaturized electronic devices, increase in penetration of Internet of Things, and development of the semiconductor industry. However, high operational & maintenance cost of equipment and limitations of the process for curved surfaces hamper the market growth to a certain extent. On the contrary, advancements in photolithography techniques are expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the market growth globally.

The emergence of COVID-19 has declined the growth rate of photolithography equipment market in 2020, and is estimated to recover by the end of 2021. Implementation of partial or complete lockdown across various countries globally is the prime reason for this decline in the growth rate. Lockdown in various countries has disrupted the global supply chain, which, in turn, has reduced the demand for various consumer electronics. Consequently, the reduction in demand for wafer has negatively impacted the demand for photolithography equipment during the pandemic.

The global photolithography equipment market is segmented into process, application, light source, and region. Depending on process, the market is fragmented into ultraviolet, deep ultraviolet, and extreme ultraviolet. The ultraviolet segment dominated the photolithography equipment market in terms of revenue in 2019; however, the extreme ultraviolet segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. On the basis of application, the market is segregated into front-end and back-end. The back-end segment accounted for the highest market share in 2019, and is expected to follow the same trend during the forecast period. By light source, the market is generated into mercury lamp, fluorine laser, excimer laser, and others. In 2019, the global photolithography equipment market was led by the mercury lamp segment in terms of value. 

Region wise, the global photolithography equipment market is analyzed across North America (U.S., Canada, and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, and rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and rest of Asia-Pacific), and LAMEA (Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa). Asia-Pacific accounted for the highest share, owing to the availability of a number of power stations for high-voltage power, increase in demand for power modules, and exponential increase in population. According to the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), nearly 2,000 chips are being designed every year in India and more than 20,000 engineers are working on various aspects of chip design and verification. North America was the second largest contributor in terms of revenue, and is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period, owing to surge in adoption of power modules and applications and steep rise in number of electronic applications such as IoT devices. 

Top Impacting Factors

The notable factors positively impacting the photolithography equipment market include high demand for miniaturized electronic devices, increase in trend of Internet of Things, and expansion of the semiconductor industry. However, limitations regarding photolithography for curved surfaces challenge the fabrication of flexible integrated circuits. This factor is expected to hinder the market growth. Conversely, increase in investment in wafer fabrication equipment and materials is anticipated to offer potential growth opportunities for the market in the coming years.

Competition Analysis

Competitive analysis and profiles of the major photolithography equipment industry players, such as ASML Holding N.V., Canon Inc., Nikon Corporation, SÜSS MICROTEC SE, Holmarc Opto-Mechatronics (P) Ltd., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), KLA Corporation, S-Cubed Company, Osiris International GmbH, and Vecco Instruments Inc. are provided in this report. 

Key Benefits For Stakeholders

• This study comprises analytical depiction of the global photolithography equipment market size along with the current trends and future estimations to depict the imminent investment pockets.
• The overall photolithography equipment market analysis is determined to understand the profitable trends to gain a stronger foothold.
• The report presents information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities with a detailed impact analysis.
• The current photolithography equipment market forecast is quantitatively analyzed from 2020 to 2027 to benchmark the financial competency.
• Porter’s five forces analysis illustrates the potency of the buyers and suppliers in the photolithography equipment market.
• The report includes the photolithography equipment market share of key vendors and trends.

 Photolithography Equipment Market Report Highlights