semiconductor industry

Vacuum pumps, pressure gauges, and vacuum valves combined make up the biggest expense on the bill of materials for semiconductor OEMs. The semiconductor industry consumed almost $2.7 billion worth of vacuum subsystems in 2020, with over 60% supplied by vendors based in Europe.

What will the New Year bring? Purchasing Managers Indices (PMIs) are a good leading indicator of present and near-term manufacturing activity by country.

For the semiconductor industry, 2018 was nothing if not incredible. Chip revenue shot up to $469 billion, trouncing the record-setting $412 billion reached in 2017 to reach a new high. Both semiconductor equipment and materials hit record revenues of $65 billion and $52 billion, respectively.

Custer Consulting Group has its first estimate of global electronic equipment growth in 4Q’18 vs. 4Q’17.

World manufacturing growth has slowed but its growth rate varies significantly by region. Recently China and Europe have registered slower growth but U.S. growth is expanding. How long U.S. manufacturing will continue to accelerate remains to be seen. Geopolitical issues abound.

The new edition of the Worldwide OSAT Manufacturing Sites Database, released today by SEMI and TechSearch International, now tracks 320 facilities and adds the world’s top 20 OSAT companies by revenue in 2016 and 2017 to deliver even greater business value.

Vacuum subsystems sales account for 1/3 of expenditure on all critical subsystems used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment (excluding optical subsystems). The increase in vacuum process intensity of the semiconductor industry means that by 2023, the market for vacuum subsystems could top $3.1B.