Unit Shipments Down, Prices Up in Lithography
Online Staff -- 3/7/2005
Electronic News
reed-electronics.com
The market for lithography tools in the chip industry will be flat this year at $4.8 billion, according to market researcher The Information Network.
“The lithography market will be the only growth sector in the semiconductor equipment industry in 2005,” Robert N. Castellano, president of The Information Network, said in a statement. “We are now in a period of push outs and cancellations … while unit shipments of lithography tool will drop 7 percent, average selling prices will increase at the same rate as tool shipments trend toward more expensive 193nm (deep ultraviolet) tools.
"Price increases won’t be the norm for other processing tools such as etch, deposition, or implant, and revenues will drop nearly 10 percent in 2005 across all these sectors," Castellano said.
While ASML led the total lithography market with a 39 percent share of shipments and a 50 percent share of revenue, the 193nm sector proved to be more of an equalizer market in 2004, as the share spread between ASML, Nikon, and Canon was only 8 percent in unit shipments, according to The Information Network.
Growth will return to the lithography market beyond 2005, according to the market research firm.
Revenue growth will reach $6.4 billion in 2007, exceeding for the first time revenues of $6 billion registered in 2000, The Information Network predicts. However, unit shipments in 2007 will reach 602 units, compared to the 1,083 units. 2000's numbers included 625, trailing edge and lower-priced I-line exposure tools. By way of comparison, an I-line tool in 2000 cost less than $3 million, while a leading edge 193nm exposure tool today fetches a price of $16 million to $21 million. |
