In semiconductor fabs, the PVD, CVD, and CMP modules are collectively referred to as the thin film department. Following this convention, I will discuss these three types of equipment together.
From the name thin film, it is clear that these three types of equipment are used for the deposition of thin films and for the grinding and polishing of these films.
Let’s take a look at the global market share and the proportion of various manufacturers (2024 data):
CVD ~ $8.85 billion, Applied Materials ~ 32%, Lam Research ~ 20-25%, Tokyo Electron ~ 15-20%. The top three companies account for over 70%. The main domestic manufacturers are Tuojing Technology and Northern Huachuang, with a global market share of <10%. Turning to the domestic market, the market share of CVD equipment from Tuojing Technology and Northern Huachuang in China is 12% and 5-8%, respectively. CMP ~ $3.25 billion, Applied Materials holds approximately 64% of the market share, making it the largest CMP equipment supplier globally, especially dominating in advanced processes (such as 5nm and below).Japan’s Ebara Corporation accounts for about 29%, making it the second-largest CMP equipment manufacturer, also highly competitive in the high-end market.South Korea’s KC Tech has a market share of about 4.30%, mainly targeting specific markets.Tokyo Seimitsu accounts for about 2.40%.Applied Materials and Ebara Corporation together occupy over 90% of the global market share. The domesticCMP equipment market still heavily relies on imports, especially for high-end equipment. However, local companies represented by Huahai Qingke have also made some breakthroughs, with domestic equipment’s market share in China increasing to around 30%, achieving stable mass production in mature processes of 28nm and above, and entering the supply chains of foundries like SMIC and Yangtze Memory Technologies.
PVD ~ $4.13 billion,Applied Materials (USA) holds a global market share of 80%-87%, dominating the sputtering PVD equipment field,ULVAC (Japan) has a market share of about 5%-8%, mainly targeting the semiconductor and optical coating markets. The main domestic manufacturer is Northern Huachuang, with a market share of about 2%-5%. Looking at the domestic market, Northern Huachuang’s market share has increased to 10-15%.
The above data also indicates that in the thin film equipment sector, high-end advanced processes are still dominated by foreign manufacturers, while domestic manufacturers are primarily focusing on mature processes, gradually capturing more market share from foreign companies. As for the equipment required for more advanced processes, domestic manufacturers are also making efforts to achieve comprehensive replacement of imported equipment from high-end to low-end, although this path is very challenging and will take a long time.
The road may be long, but we will reach it.
The mountain may be high, but we will climb it.
