WorldWide Lithography Equipment Market, Industry / Sector Analysis Report, Regional Outlook & Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2019 - 2025 (Includes Business Impact of COVID-19)

                                          
Lithography Equipment Market size is anticipated to rise at a significant pace in the forecast time span propelled by growth in the semiconductor industry. The equipment transfers device or circuit patterns onto a substrate using a beam of electrons or light. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), in 2018, the global semiconductor industry was over USD 450 billion. The demand for semiconductors is growing in various application areas such as sensor devices, communication, consumer electronics, and memory devices, which has resulted in the need for cost-effective printing equipment for Integrated Circuit (IC) production The semiconductor industries are adopting the technique for printing the pattern of IC on a robust substrate, thereby driving the lithography equipment market growth
 

The growth in the electronic device industry is due to the rise in the demand for compact electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets, smart homes, and fitness trackers that are using lithography techniques for manufacturing ICs. Moreover, the growing investments in R&D activities by manufacturers to adopt advanced technologies and offer high-precision semiconductor tools with reduced cost will accelerate the lithography equipment market over the coming years. In May 2019, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced to offer its chipset with Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technique to several companies including Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Panasonic Corporation, and Lenovo Group.
 

High manufacturing and R&D costs associated with the system is a major challenge affecting the lithography equipment market growth. Costs for the equipment include the cost of equipment, raw material, maintenance, facilities, and labor charges. The lithography equipment market manufacturers rely on raw materials and labor for an efficient production process. The fluctuations in the prices of raw materials with increased labor costs have elevated the equipment prices, which is hindering the lithography equipment market growth. However, the development of lithography tools with advanced technologies is encouraging the companies to invest in the equipment.
 

The exponential rise in investments by several global players for the construction of Semiconductor Fabrication Plants (Foundries) and upgrading of existing facilities are projected to revolutionize the lithography equipment market over the forecast time. For instance, in December 2018, Intel announced to invest over USD 70 billion for its chip manufacturing expansion plans due to changing demands. Similarly, in August 2015, Samsung invested USD 14 billion for the construction of its foundry in South Korea.
 

The ArF immersion technology accounts for a considerable share in the lithography equipment market. The increasing demand for improved performance at low cost is accelerating the developments in technology. The immersion technique allows the design of projection optics with a numerical model using pure water as an exposure tool. Several chipmakers are offering edge deep ArF immersion lithography by implementing complex techniques to compensate for the physical limitations of optical printing. For instance, ASML Holding NV is offering 193-nm lithography tool that supports both dry and immersion technologies. The technology helps in lowering the risk associated with wavelength reductions.
 

Growing demand for advanced packaging solutions is encouraging the semiconductor manufacturers to adopt this equipment, thereby propelling the lithography equipment market demand. The adoption is driven by the imaging requirements of wafer bumping on front-end semiconductor fabrication. Moreover, the rapid increase in chip density, efficiency requirements, and multilayer input/output redistribution have resulted in the implementation of the technique for packaging processes. The manufacturers are highly integrating lithography in Wafer-Level Chip Scale Packaging (WLCSP) applications as it minimizes the cost by performing processes in parallel rather than sequentially on individual chips.
 

The Asia Pacific lithography equipment market is expected to dominate the industry owing to the growth in the semiconductor industry coupled with the presence of a large number of equipment manufacturers. The increasing financial support from the government is encouraging companies to invest in the construction of semiconductor fabrication plants in the region. The Government of India is supporting the construction of a fabrication facility using the emerging technology of Gallium Nitride. (GaN semiconductor fab). Similarly, in May 2018, the Government of China announced to invest around USD 50 billion to improve its ability to design and manufacture semiconductor chips. Such high adoption of compact electronic devices and initiatives by government are anticipated to contribute to lithography equipment market growth in the region.
 

The major players operating in the lithography equipment market include ORC Manufacturing Co., Ltd., ASML, EV Group, USHIO America, Inc., Orbotech, Nikon Corporation, SUSS MICROTEC SE., Canon Inc., SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd., and Veeco Instruments Inc., among others. The players in lithography equipment market are focusing on product launches, collaborations, strategic partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions to sustain market growth. For instance, Canon Inc. is offering immersion and extreme-ultraviolet lithography equipment, which can be used in the smallest ICs.