Applied Hopes to Double Market Share, Wang Says (Update1)
By Cesca Antonelli
San Francisco, July 26 (Bloomberg) -- Applied Materials Inc., the world's biggest semiconductor-equipment maker, hopes to double market share over the next several years as chipmakers start building circuits on larger wafers, Senior Vice President David Wang said.
As the chip industry moved to 8-inch wafers from 6-inch during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Applied's market share grew to 33 percent from 16 percent, Wang said. Now, Intel Corp. and other chipmakers are shifting toward 12-inch wafers to cut costs and increase production.
The new technique, which more than doubles the number of chips on each wafer, requires an entirely new set of tools. That could mean a big boost in sales for Applied and others since chipmakers usually design certain machines into their processes and then roll them out at every plant.
``History seems to repeat itself,'' Wang said at the Robertson Stephens Semiconductor Conference in San Francisco.
By 2003, 15 chip plants worldwide will use the larger, dinner- plate-sized wafers for volume production and another nine will have pilot lines running, Wang said. A new plant will need about $1.57 billion in manufacturing equipment, he said.
Wang said because Applied sells a wide range of products and services it might be able to help the semiconductor industry make the transition in five or six years instead of the usual eight.
Earlier this month, the company unveiled 21 tools for making chips on 12-inch wafers; they perform three-fourths of the manufacturing process, from depositing the first layer of crystals on wafers to polishing them flat.
Shares of Santa Clara, California-based Applied fell 2 5/8 to 81 7/8. They've risen 29 percent this year. |
