SAN JOSE - Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. remained the leader in the wire-bonder equipment market in 2002, but rivals ASM Pacific and Shinkawa are gaining ground in the arena, according to a new report from Dataquest Inc.
At the same time, the overall wire-bonder market fell from $394.8 million in 2001, to $354.9 million in 2002, according to Dataquest.
K&S' share in wire bonders fell from 40.9 percent in 2001, to 34 percent in 2002, according to Dataquest. Its sales in the arena dropped from $161.4 million in 2001, to $120.5 million in 2002, according to the San Jose-based research firm.
ASM and Shinkawa were in second and third place, with 24.7 percent and 21.8 percent share in 2002, respectively. Both ASM and Shinkawa had 18.8 percent share in 2001.
ASM's sales in the sector jumped from $74.4 million in 2001, to $87.7 million in 2002, while Shinkawa's revenues went from $74.1 million in 2001, to $77.2 million.
Clearly, ASM Pacific is gaining ground, "based on more attractive pricing and technology that is close to being on par with K&S," said Steven Pelayo, an analyst with Morgan Stanley in San Francisco.
Rounding out the rankings in wire bonders for 2002 were ESEC (6.4 percent), Kaijo (5.5 percent), Ultrasonic (3 percent), Palomer (2.8 percent), Orthodyne (1.7 percent), and Hybond (0.2 percent).
In total, the worldwide market for wafer fab equipment fell to $16.5 billion, a 31.6 percent decline from 2001 revenue of $24.1 billion, market research organization Dataquest/Gartner Inc. said. But Gartner's rankings showed that market leader Applied Materials and ASML were both able to grow market share and ASML even recorded a jump in sales (see April 7 story ).
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