ACM Semiconductor is about to be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, and domestic semiconductor equipment has an opportunity for development
Latest update time：2021-09-01
Reads：
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) report, global semiconductor sales in the second quarter of 2021 were US$133.6 billion, up 29.2% from the same period last year and 8.3% from the previous quarter. Driven by a series of new technologies and market demands such as 5G commercialization, data centers, the Internet of Things, smart cities, and smart cars, the semiconductor industry has been given new momentum, and it is expected that semiconductor demand will continue to rise significantly in the long term.
On the other hand, the epidemic disrupted the supply rhythm, coupled with the explosion of demand, and the world fell into a severe shortage. At the end of 2020, all kinds of chips fell into a shortage, and foundries continued to start the expansion cycle under full load.
According to a SEMI report, 29 new wafer fabs are expected to be built in the world in the next two years, with an additional production capacity of 2.6 million wafers per month (converted to 8-inch wafers). The global wafer fabs are actively expanding production, which will drive the semiconductor equipment market to grow rapidly and start an upward cycle for semiconductor equipment.
Number of new foundries built in each region in 2021/2022
(Image source: SEMI, Minsheng Securities Research Institute)
Semiconductor equipment refers to the equipment required for the production of various semiconductor products. It is a supporting link in the semiconductor industry chain. From the perspective of process classification, semiconductor equipment can be mainly divided into silicon wafer production process equipment, wafer manufacturing process equipment, packaging and testing process equipment, etc. These equipment correspond to silicon wafer manufacturing, integrated circuit manufacturing, packaging, testing and other processes, and are used in different processes of the integrated circuit production process.
According to SEMI data, global semiconductor equipment sales reached US$71.2 billion in 2020, a record high. China is the world's largest semiconductor equipment market, and its share of the global market size is increasing year by year.
Global semiconductor equipment quarterly sales (US$ billion)
(Source: Wind, Guosheng Securities Research Institute)
From 2016 to 2020, China's semiconductor equipment market size grew from US$6.46 billion to US$18.72 billion, and its global market share rose from 15.7% to more than 25%. Overall, the semiconductor equipment market size continues to increase, and the industry has huge potential.
Domestic semiconductor equipment "breakthrough battle"
According to statistics from the China Electronic Equipment Industry Association (CEPEA), domestic semiconductor equipment sales in 2020 were approximately 21.3 billion yuan, with a self-sufficiency rate of approximately 17.5%. If only integrated circuit equipment is considered, the domestic self-sufficiency rate is only about 5%, accounting for only 1-2% of the global market.
There is a large gap between supply and demand of domestic semiconductor equipment
(Source: SEMI, Guosheng Securities Research Institute)
It can be seen that my country's semiconductor equipment is still relatively dependent on imports, and the domestic self-sufficiency rate is relatively low. Looking at the global semiconductor equipment market, the entire industry presents a highly monopolistic situation where the strong always get stronger. According to Gartner data, the top three companies in the world in 2020 accounted for more than 70% of the market share. The Matthew effect in the industry is very obvious, and the market is highly concentrated.
Semiconductor equipment has high technical requirements, and it is difficult for domestic companies to achieve technological breakthroughs. However, China's semiconductor equipment industry is also in the process of rapid development. From a market perspective, China has gradually made breakthroughs in cleaning equipment, furnace equipment, dry degumming equipment, etching equipment, polishing equipment, copper plating equipment and other links. In the entire replacement process, a number of companies have taken solid steps and achieved certain results.
Take cleaning equipment as an example. Cleaning equipment is one of the most important equipment in the new production line of a wafer fab. It cleans the surface of the wafer without damage according to the requirements of different processes, thereby removing particles, metal pollution, organic matter and other impurities in the semiconductor manufacturing process. It can be said that semiconductor cleaning equipment directly affects the yield of integrated circuits, and its importance is self-evident.
According to SEMI, the global semiconductor cleaning equipment market will reach US$3.587 billion in 2021. From the current global cleaning equipment market, the market share is mainly monopolized by Japanese companies such as DNS, Tokyo Electron (TEL), and Lam Research.
Surrounded by giants, looking back at the domestic market, in terms of cleaning equipment, ACM Semiconductor, North Huachuang and Xinyuanwei have made layouts here, but the three companies have different business focuses and their products are quite different. ACM Semiconductor's main products are single-wafer/tank-type and single-wafer-tank-type combination cleaning equipment in the field of integrated circuits, with a relatively rich product line. North Huachuang's main products are single-wafer/tank-type cleaning equipment; Xinyuanwei's current products are mainly used in single-wafer scrubbing equipment in the field of integrated circuit manufacturing. At present, in the domestic domestic cleaning equipment market, ACM Semiconductor occupies about 80% of the market share. It is the cleaning equipment company with the largest market share and the most complete products in China, and shoulders the heavy responsibility of localizing cleaning equipment.
Regarding the industry structure and development status of semiconductor equipment, Wang Hui, Chairman of ACM Semiconductor, said, "From the development history of the global semiconductor equipment industry, the main characteristics are that, first, the survival cycle of leading equipment companies is particularly long, and second, due to their early layout, leading equipment companies have mastered critical IP technologies, which means that latecomers will definitely encounter IP obstacles in the development process. This is also the biggest challenge for domestic equipment companies in the development process."
It is understood that the main products of ACM Semiconductor include semiconductor cleaning equipment, semiconductor electroplating equipment, vertical furnace tube dry process equipment and advanced packaging wet process equipment, etc. ACM Semiconductor adheres to the development strategy of differentiated competition and innovation. Through years of technology research and development and process accumulation, it has successfully developed SAPS/TEBO single-wafer megasonic cleaning technology and Tahoe single-wafer tank combination cleaning technology, which can be applied to the field of wafer cleaning at 28nm and below technology nodes, effectively solve the cleaning problems of organic contamination and particles after etching, and greatly reduce the use of chemical reagents such as concentrated sulfuric acid, helping customers reduce production costs while meeting the requirements of energy conservation and emission reduction.
In addition, ACM Semiconductor is also actively developing electroplating technology, stress-free polishing technology and vertical furnace tube technology, providing customized equipment and process solutions to global wafer manufacturing, advanced packaging and other customers, effectively improving customers' production efficiency, increasing product yield and reducing production costs.
Domestic companies represented by ACM Semiconductor have achieved a breakthrough from 0 to 1 in semiconductor cleaning equipment. Looking back at the development history of ACM, it can be traced back to 1998, when Dr. Wang Hui founded ACM Research in Silicon Valley, USA, mainly engaged in the research and development of semiconductor-specific equipment, and invented multi-anode local electroplating copper and stress-free copper polishing technology and processes. Among them, stress-free polishing equipment was sold to Intel and LSI Iogic. However, because the technology was too advanced and far ahead of the market demand at the time, it was not industrialized.
Despite experiencing the embarrassing situation of "advanced technology having no place to be used", Dr. Wang Hui still believes that regarding the relationship between technology and the market, small companies should focus on advanced technologies, seize opportunities in niche areas that large companies do not have the energy to take care of or look down upon, and first obtain market entry tickets through differentiated technologies, and then further expand the company by focusing on emerging markets and markets that are on the rise.
In 2005, as the global semiconductor production lines shifted to the domestic market, the demand for semiconductor equipment began to increase. At the same time, Shanghai vigorously developed the semiconductor equipment industry. ACMR, as a key enterprise introduced, became a new development opportunity. In 2005, ACMR invested in and established a joint venture company in Shanghai - ACM Semiconductor Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., and invested the semiconductor-specific equipment-related technologies developed in its early research and development into the joint venture, filling the gap in Shanghai's semiconductor equipment industry with the world's most advanced copper interconnect process technology and equipment.
ACM Semiconductor Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
(Source: Company website)
After years of hard work, ACM Semiconductor finally achieved a technological breakthrough in 2008, with the successful development of SAPS, a megasonic cleaning technology. In 2009, ACM Semiconductor's first 12-inch single-wafer cleaning equipment entered the SK Hynix (Wuxi) factory, and the following year it successfully entered SK Hynix in South Korea for product verification. This was the first time that China's local high-end 12-inch semiconductor equipment broke through the Korean market and was adopted by South Korea's top semiconductor chip manufacturers. In 2011, ACM Semiconductor officially received an order from SK Hynix, and received multiple repeat orders in 2013. It took ACM Semiconductor 24 months from product verification to formal order receipt.
ACM Semiconductor's SAPS cleaning equipment for SK Hynix's 12-inch 45nm process
Dr. Wang Hui recalled that this process was not easy. Because the trial and error cost of semiconductor equipment is high, wafer fabs are more willing to use equipment from large companies with mature technology. For a semiconductor equipment startup, even if the product performance, cost and various parameters are the same as those of similar products of international large companies, there is no chance to compete with international large companies in the market. Even if there is an opportunity to compete with international large companies, it does not mean that you can win the competition. Unless it can generate direct economic benefits for customers, large companies have almost no motivation to change suppliers.
The reason why SK Hynix purchased equipment from ACM is that its cleaning equipment has been proven to achieve a 1.5% yield improvement in two processes, which means that a production line with a monthly output of 100,000 products can increase profits by approximately US$70 million each year. The visible economic benefits have helped ACM's cleaning equipment officially enter SK Hynix's large production line.
The recognition from major manufacturers has accelerated ACM's innovation in semiconductor cleaning technology, and it has subsequently developed TEBO technology and Tahoe technology. In 2015, TEBO, the megasonic cleaning technology, was launched. As the world's first technology that can achieve non-destructive megasonic cleaning on 3D fine structures, it is expected to solve the problem of cleaning 14nm and below FinFET fine structures; in 2018, ACM took another step forward and released Tahoe single-wafer tank combination cleaning technology, which can be applied to the field of wafer cleaning at 45nm and below technology nodes, and can effectively solve the cleaning problem of organic contamination and particles after etching. Compared with single-wafer cleaning equipment, it can reduce the use of concentrated sulfuric acid by more than 80%, helping customers reduce production costs while meeting the requirements of energy conservation and emission reduction.
In the same year, ACM began to expand to dry process equipment based on wet process, and launched vertical furnace tube equipment in 2020, further enriching the company's product line and expanding the market coverage of products. At the same time, with the continuous development and iteration of products and technologies, ACM gradually brings new technological achievements to the market. It has entered the field of LPCVD (low-pressure chemical vapor deposition) equipment, oxidation furnaces and diffusion furnaces, and will enter the field of ALD (atomic layer deposition) equipment next year.
Differentiation strategy and diversified product layout
It can be seen that from single cleaning equipment, to advanced packaging wet equipment, to copper plating equipment and stress-free polishing equipment, and then to the field of dry equipment, ACM is constantly increasing its product matrix while moving towards an international company with multiple equipment products. With its advanced technology and rich product lines, ACM has developed into one of the few semiconductor-specific equipment providers in mainland China with certain international competitiveness. Its cooperative customers include international major manufacturers SK Hynix, domestic SMIC, Huahong Group, Yangtze Memory, Changdian Technology, Tongfu Microelectronics, Hefei Changxin, Silan Microelectronics, Xin'en, Cansemi, Jinghe, Zhuosheng Microelectronics, Jita Semiconductor, GalaxyCore, Liang Microelectronics, Shanghai Hejing, Shenghe Jingwei, etc. are all customers of ACM. Its products have been recognized by many mainstream semiconductor manufacturers at home and abroad and have achieved a good market reputation.
In 2020, ACM's cleaning equipment global market share was about 5%, and reached 20%-30% in the domestic market. Among them, ACM's equipment can account for more than 50% of the purchase volume of Yangtze Memory's latest order. In the future, ACM plans to achieve a market share of more than 50% in domestic customers' cleaning equipment. At the same time, as foreign customers gradually and steadily break through, the global market share is expected to reach 20%-30% in the future.
Dr. Wang Hui emphasized that if latecomers want to compete with international first-tier brands, they must differentiate themselves and provide solutions to problems that others have not yet solved, such as improving yield and increasing economic benefits, while respecting IP. Semiconductor equipment companies can only enter the international market by taking a differentiated and systematic innovation path. For example, ACM Semiconductor uses TEBO megasonic cleaning technology to solve the global problem of megasonic damage to graphic silicon wafers, and Tahoe high-temperature sulfuric acid cleaning equipment greatly reduces the amount of sulfuric acid used.
It is through this differentiated innovation approach that ACM has created world-leading technology. From ACM's perspective, the next five to ten years will be a golden period for the development of Chinese equipment companies. ACM must work hard to make its products better and stronger, and increase the process range that cleaning equipment can cover from the current 80% to more than 90%. In addition, ACM will continue to explore the market for copper plating, polishing equipment, vertical furnaces and more products with differentiated technologies, accelerate the development of new equipment and the internationalization of products, strengthen the differentiated innovation advantages of all categories, and the cooperative relationship with customers, so as to seize the golden period of development of China's semiconductor equipment industry.
ACM is also continuing to develop two new devices, which are expected to be launched on the market next year. These two new devices can cover a market of more than US$9 billion.
Seeking new steps and new exits
In Dr. Wang Hui's view, original innovation and differentiated innovation are the stepping stones for domestic equipment manufacturers to catch up and surpass. "Technology does not favor large or small companies, but innovative teams. Therefore, we cannot always follow the mainstream manufacturers. We must do some differentiated, new technology exploration and original innovation, make early arrangements when we have the spare capacity and time, and seize market opportunities."
From a small player in the industry to a rising star today, ACM Semiconductor has made great achievements by focusing on innovation, R&D, and application, based on differentiated innovation, taking a differentiated product route, and striving to be the "only one" in the industry, rather than a follower. ACM Semiconductor's growth path, R&D ideas, and judgment and grasp of market trends may provide some guidance to local equipment manufacturers, and provide a development path that can be followed for Chinese semiconductor equipment companies to enter the global industrial chain, compete with other international mainstream manufacturers in a healthy manner, and share the global market.
In 2017, ACM was listed on NASDAQ, becoming the first semiconductor equipment company in China to be listed in the U.S. In the global industry of semiconductor equipment, the listing in the U.S. highlights ACM's global strategy and far-reaching layout.
Shengmei is listed on the Nasdaq in the United States (Source: Sohu)
At present, ACM Semiconductor has launched its march towards the Science and Technology Innovation Board. The official website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange shows that on September 30, 2020, ACM Semiconductor was approved by the Shanghai Stock Exchange Science and Technology Innovation Board Listing Committee, and on August 17, 2021, the company was officially registered.
ACM Semiconductor registered
(Source: Shanghai Stock Exchange)
Dr. Wang Hui said that the listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board will enable ACM to take deeper roots in the Chinese market and grow together with the Chinese semiconductor industry. In the future, ACM will also adhere to original innovation, take a differentiated path, maintain the bilateral listing structure of Nasdaq and the Science and Technology Innovation Board, serve domestic and foreign customers well, and actively expand into the global market, while creating more value for the company's global customers and bilateral investors.
Final Thoughts
At present, the mainland semiconductor equipment industry has initially entered the stage of domestic substitution after going through the stage of relying on foreign technology and the stage of independent research and development. From the perspective of market space, the mainland is already the world's largest semiconductor equipment demand market, and the large-scale expansion of local foundries, IDMs, etc. will drive the market to continue to grow.
With the global chip shortage since last year, the expansion of global wafer factories has once again increased the demand for semiconductor equipment. Domestic semiconductor equipment has also gradually changed from relying on orders from large manufacturers such as Yangtze Memory, SMIC, and Huahong Semiconductor to various domestic IDM manufacturers, specialty process wafer factories, and other multi-faceted demands. The domestic semiconductor equipment industry has ushered in a development opportunity.
With a large market and low self-sufficiency rate, coupled with the trend of domestic substitution, local equipment manufacturers are gradually starting to receive orders, and can take this opportunity to develop differentiated technologies. At the same time, combined with the advantages of domestic semiconductor equipment companies being close to customers and responding quickly, they can provide customers with better services. Under this trend and opportunity, the local semiconductor equipment market may usher in a golden period of growth.
ACM is in the midst of this round of industrial transformation and has pressed the accelerator amid new shocks and opportunities. Its goal is to become one of the top ten semiconductor equipment companies in the world in the future and contribute to the development of the global semiconductor equipment industry.
*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.
Today is the 2784th content shared by "Semiconductor Industry Observer" for you, welcome to follow.
Recommended Reading
★ Chip gross profit margins collectively exploded, some companies are happy and some are sad?
★ Let’s start with Samsung and Google working together to create 5G mobile phone chips
★ Global competition in power devices is fierce
Semiconductor Industry Observation
" The first vertical media in semiconductor industry "
Real-time professional original depth
Scan the QR code , reply to the keywords below, and read more
Wafers｜ICs｜Equipment ｜Automotive Chips｜Storage｜TSMC｜AI｜Packaging
Reply
Submit your article
and read "How to become a member of "Semiconductor Industry Observer""
Reply Search and you can easily find other articles that interest you!
京公网安备 11010802033920号