SAN FRANCISCO—Dutch lithography vendor ASML Holding NV lengthened its lead in the lithography stepper market in 2008, according to market research firm Gartner Inc., which also projected that overall stepper sales would decline 54 percent this year.
ASML controlled 65.4 percent of worldwide lithography stepper revenue last year, compared to 23.3 percent for No. 2 player Nikon, according to Gartner. ASML lengthened its lead in the segment despite seeing revenue decline by 24 percent, Gartner said.
Gartner projected that 2009 will be a difficult year for the stepper market, which has enjoyed a market position of "outperform" for a number of years. Gartner projects that stepper sales will contract 54 percent in 2009. Total unit sales across all technologies and vendors are projected to amount to roughly 118 units, less than a quarter of total unit sales in 2007.
ASML's 2008 stepper revenue was about $3.5 billion, down from more than $4.6 billion in 2007, Gartner said. Nikon's stepper revenue declined to nearly $1.3 billion from more than $1.7 billion in 2007, the firm said.
Click on image to enlarge. |
The stepper market is one of the most highly concentrated segments of the semiconductor capital equipment market, devoid of market share position changes in recent years, Gartner said. Last year was no different, the firm said, as ASML has retained the No. 1 position for several consecutive years.
ASML sold about 140 stepper units in 2008, Gartner said, down 45 percent from an estimated 255 units in 2008. Cannon shipped roughly 104 units in 2008, down 44 percent from 2007, while Nikon shipped about 100 units, down 39 percent from 2008, according to Gartner.
According to Gartner's analysis, ASML had the upper hand in the two major issues dictating 2008 lithography stepper market share: demand for 193-nm immersion tools and which supplier's customers had the most money to spend in a down year.
"In both cases, ASML had the upper hand, benefiting from its strong position with Samsung
and NAND flash demand for 193 nm DUV immersion in 2008," Gartner analyst Klaus Rinnen wrote in a report circulated Monday (June 22).
Click on image to enlarge. |
ASML used its increasing hold on the stepper market to move into the No. 2 spot in overall semiconductor capital equipment revenue last year, according to a Gartner analysis released in April. ASML had previously been the No. 3 player overall.
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