News Article
Semiconductor inspection equipment 75% growth
Macro inspection and integrated tools will propel the semiconductor inspection and metrology market to revenues of $6.6 billion in 2008, according to the report "Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control in VLSI Manufacturing", recently published by The Information Network.;;
"The drive to smaller dimensions on a semiconductor device will dictate the need for more refined inspection processes over the next three years," notes Dr. Robert N. Castellano, President of The Information Network. "Semiconductor manufacturers are relying on these tools to minimise defects and low yields on expensive 300mm wafers during processing, setting the stage for explosive growth in the sector."The Integrated Thin Film Metrology sector will be an enabling technology and exhibit strong growth, as semiconductor equipment suppliers integrate inspection tools to monitor processing in real time. The market should grow 180% between 2006 and 2008 to nearly $150 million. Nova Measuring Instruments and Nanometrics led the market in 2005.The Macro Defect Detection sector was embroiled in a tug-of-war in 2005 as KLA-Tencor, Nanometrics, and Rudolph Technologies all vied to acquire August Technology (Rudolph won out). This sector grew 63% in 2005 compared to a revenue decrease of 1.5% for the overall inspection/metrology market and a 9.5% decrease for the overall front-end equipment market. August Technology led the market with a 32% share, and when combined with Rudolph's share resulted in a 44% share for the new entity."Recent acquisitions reinforce the growth potential of the process control market. In addition to the Rudolph acquisition of August Technologies, Nanometrics acquired Accent Optical and Soluris, market leader KLA-Tencor acquired ADE, Synopsis acquired HPL, and Golden Gate Capital acquired Leica and changed the name to Vistec Semiconductor Systems," added Dr. Castellano.
