Semiconductor Production Equipment Market

Semiconductor Production Equipment Market Research, 2031

The global semiconductor production equipment market size was valued at $87.9 billion in 2021, and is projected to reach $209.9 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 9% from 2022 to 2031. Semiconductor production equipment manufactures semiconductor circuits, memory chips, and others. Semiconductors are materials with free electrons in their structures that can easily travel between atoms, allowing electricity to flow more freely. Wafer fabrication equipment is used in the early stages of semiconductor manufacturing process whereas testing and assembly equipment are used in the latter stages.

The semiconductor production equipment market was severely hampered during the lockdown period owning to the outbreak of COVID-19. The electronics industry was negatively affected, and COVID-19 also led to a major semiconductor supply chain crunch. However, the market recovered by the end of 2021.

Market dynamics

The semiconductor industry is witnessing a rapid growth across the world, which is positively affecting new semiconductor production equipment sales; thus, driving growth in the market during the forecast period. An increase in demand for electronic devices by consumers drives the demand for chips, which, in turn, is expected to boost the demand for semiconductor production equipment indirectly during the projected period. The increase can be attributed to the expanding need for user-friendly electronic items as well as the developing residential sector, which drives the consumer electronics demand internationally. The mass production of electronic products, such as smartphones, wearables, and white goods, in China and Taiwan, makes use of several devices such as optoelectronics, MEMS, and MOEMS. Furthermore, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness higher growth rate, owing to increase in spending on the development of semiconductor industry in countries, such as India and China, which drives the market growth. Thus, the surge in the electronics industry across different regions across the globe is expected to boost the growth of the global semiconductor production equipment market. Moreover, semiconductor packaging is one of the most important requirements in the global electronics industry. Die bonding materials are in high demand due to the rapidly expanding demand for semiconductor packaging. Researchers from the United States Army are developing a new method of incorporating Silicon Carbide (SiC)-powered semiconductors into modern weaponry and equipment. The need for bonding materials is increasing as a result of having such an element from the semiconductor packaging consumption side. Jet wave machines are gaining popularity among North American manufacturers. Jet wave machines are capable of fusing components above the circuit in a short amount of time with great accuracy, and they may be used for both sintering and soldering pastes.

The demand for semiconductor production equipment decreased in the year 2020, owing to low demand from different industries due to lockdowns imposed by the government of many countries. It began as a human health condition and later became a significant threat to global trade, economy, and finance. The COVID-19 pandemic had halted the production of many components in the semiconductor industry due to the lockdown, resulting in a global semiconductor shortage. The economic slowdown initially resulted in reduced spending on semiconductor production equipment by their end-users. However, the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced, owing to the introduction of various vaccines. This has led to the full-fledged reopening of businesses in the semiconductor stepper systems market at their full-scale capacities. Furthermore, it has been more than two years since the outbreak of this pandemic, and many companies have already shown notable signs of recovery. Moreover, the supply shortage in the semiconductor industry made the countries realize that dependence on other countries for the supply of semiconductors can play a negative role in the semiconductor security of the countries. Thus countries are investing heavily in development of their own domestic semiconductor industry. For instance, in August 2022, the U.S. government passed the Chips and Science Act to protect its semiconductor industry, and foster scientific and technological research involved. Such factors are expected to positively affect the semiconductor production equipment market growth.

Furthermore, the gradual increasing adoption of AI-enabled chips connected devices across the globe is anticipated to positively affect the growth of the semiconductor stepper systems market; and thereby, provide growth opportunities.

Segmental Overview

The semiconductor production equipment market is segmented on the basis of product type, function, dimension, supply chain process, and region. By product type, the market is divided into front end equipment and back end equipment. By function, it is bifurcated into integrated Circuits and OSD. By dimension, it is classified into 2 Dimension, 2.5 Dimension, and 3 Dimension. By supply chain process, the market is fragmented into IDM, OSAT, and foundry. Region-wise, the market analysis is conducted across North America (the U.S., Canada, and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Rest of Asia-Pacific), and LAMEA (Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa).

By product type: The market is divided into front end equipment and back end equipment. In 2021, the front end equipment segment dominated the semiconductor production equipment market, in terms of revenue, and the back end equipment is expected to grow a higher CAGR during the forecast period. The front end equipment includes all the semiconductor production equipment that are used for creation of semiconductors. Such machinery includes silicon-wafer fabrication equipment, photolithography equipment, deposition equipment, etching equipment, ion implantation equipment, mechanical polishing machines, and many others. High demand for front end equipment is largely attributed to the increasing demand for semiconductors that are highly dense, and efficient for CPUs, GPUs, IoT devices, and others. Moreover, back end equipment is used for assembling, inspecting, and testing semiconductors. As the semiconductors are getting smaller, the need for highly precise back end equipment is rising.

By function: The market is bifurcated into integrated circuits, and OSD (optoelectronics, sensors, and discretes). The integrated circuits semiconductor production equipment market was largest in 2021 in terms of revenue, and is expected to grow at a significant pace. Integrated circuits segment constitutes semiconductor production equipment that are responsible for combining multiple transistors, resistors, and capacitors on a single substrate also known as integrated circuit. Integrated circuit is an indistinguishable part of any smart electronic device such as smartphones, robots, automated machines, and others.

By dimension: The market is classified into 2 dimension, 2.5 dimension, and 3 dimension. Among these, the 3 dimension segment generated the highest revenue in 2021, and is expected to maintain its superiority throughout the forecast period. With the rise of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and quantum computing; chip performance, and energy efficiency have become crucial aspects. This can be achieved using very small chip architecture, down to the level of a few nanometers. This is possible to achieve with a chip packed with a 3-dimensional architecture. Moreover, 2 dimension has become a relatively older technology; thus it is used for non-demanding and non-critical applications.  

By supply chain process: The market is fragmented into IDM (integrated device manufacturer), OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and test), and foundry. The IDM segment generated highest revenue in 2021, and is expected to dominate the market throughout the forecast period. A firm or a company is referred to as IDM if it does both; the designing and manufacturing of semiconductors. Such companies include Intel, and Texas Instruments, along with others. In addition, in September 2022, Texas Instruments an IC designer and manufacturer started initial production at its 300-millimeter wafer fab in Richardson, Texas. Furthermore, the OSAT and foundry businesses are also expected to grow considerably, owing to increasing demand for mass-scale manufacturing of semiconductors as well as for manufacturing a limited number of task-specific semiconductors. For instance, in 2021, Samsung announced that it would build a new semiconductor factory in Taylor, U.S. scheduled to be fully operational by 2024.

By region: The market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. In 2021, Asia-Pacific had the highest semiconductor production equipment market share and is anticipated to secure the leading position during the forecast period, due to a large semiconductor industry in the region, which enjoys demand for semiconductors from across the world. The major players are striving to develop manufacturing units in these markets to improve production quantities as well as to cash-in on the already established supply chain, this is positively affecting the semiconductor production equipment market outlook the region. Taiwan, a major player in the semiconductor manufacturing industry is investing heavily in the development of its semiconductor manufacturing capacity.  For instance, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, better known as TSMC, announced its plans to $100 billion over three years to grow its production capacity. In addition, owing to the critical role semiconductor chips play in todays industrial era, countries are majorly politicizing the semiconductor industry. Owing to the restrictions imposed by the U.S. on the companies to stop the export of innovative technology such as EUV lithography to China, China is investing heavily in development of its own innovative technologies. In Japan, there is rise in adoption of robots in the healthcare industry. For instance, the government of Japan invested in elder care robots to fill a projected shortfall of 380,000 healthcare professionals by 2035. In addition, as per the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan, the domestic robotics industry is anticipated to grow to $3.8 billion by 2035. This is expected to boost the growth of the semiconductor production equipment market.

COMPETITION ANALYSIS

Competitive analysis and profiles of the major players in the semiconductor production equipment market includes companies such as AlsilMaterial, Applied Materials Inc., ASML Holdings N.V., KLA Corporation, Nikon Corporation, Onto Innovation, Inc, Screen Holdings Co., Ltd., Teradyne Inc., Carl Zeiss AG, and Veeco Instruments Inc. There are some important players in the market such as Samsung, Intel Corporatoin, TSMC. Major players have adopted product launch, and acquisition as key developmental strategies to improve the product portfolio of the semiconductor production equipment market.

Product launches in the market:

In December 2020, KLA Corporation, a major company engaged in providing advanced process control and process-enabling solutions for manufacturing wafers and reticles, integrated circuits, and many other systems, launched two new products, known as PWG5™ wafer geometry system, and the Surfscan® SP7XP wafer defect inspection system. Similarly, in December 2021, Tokyo Electron a subsidiary of Applied Materials, announced the launch of PICP™ PRO plasma etch systems for manufacturing 8th-generationn flat panel displays.

Acquisitions in the market:

In June 2022, Applied Materials Inc., acquired a Finland-based semiconductor equipment company, Picosun Oy. Picosun is an innovator in atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology, primarily for specialty semiconductors. Similarly, in May 2021, KLA Corporation acquired semiconductor inspection equipment manufacturer, Anchor Semiconductor, Inc. for $67.5 million.

KEY BENEFITS FOR STAKEHOLDERS

• The report provides an extensive analysis of the current and emerging semiconductor production equipment market trends and dynamics. 
• In-depth market analysis is conducted by constructing market estimations for the key market segments between 2021 and 2031.
• An extensive semiconductor production equipment market analysis is conducted by following key product positioning and monitoring of the top competitors within the market framework.
• A comprehensive analysis of all regions is provided to determine the prevailing opportunities.
• The global semiconductor production equipment market forecast analysis from 2022 to 2031 is included in the report.
• The key market players within the semiconductor production equipment market are profiled in this report and their strategies are analyzed thoroughly, which help understand the competitive outlook of semiconductor production equipment industry.

 Semiconductor Production Equipment Market Report Highlights