1. Be optimistic about the Chinese market, ASMI expects China's performance this year will achieve three times the performance growth;
Original title: optimistic about the Chinese market, equipment supplier ASMI expects China's performance will achieve three times this year's growth
'Former ASMI has been focusing on technology research and development, but since last year, the company has adjusted its market strategy and started to strengthen market expansion and customer service. Therefore, we expect ASMI to achieve three times the market sales performance in the Chinese market in 2018.' Xu Wei, director of ASMI China Business Development, said during an interview with Micronet reporter during SEMICON China.
In fact, there are two famous equipment suppliers in the global semiconductor equipment industry with the name ASM, namely ASMI and ASM PT. Currently, they are all listed companies. According to Micronet, the two companies were founded by the same founder. ASMI and ASMPT are currently operating independently. ASMI is mainly responsible for the previous process, and ASMPT is the main process for the latter. The only relationship between the two is that ASMI is the largest shareholder of ASMPT and the former holds 25% of the latter's shares.
Founded in the Netherlands in 1968, ASMI is one of the top ten equipment suppliers in the world. At present, ASMI has R&D centers and production bases in 7 countries around the world. It has 1900 employees. ASMI China is headquartered in Shanghai and throughout the country. Local locations with service and support, as well as local process engineering support for advanced technology research and development. At the same time, the company also stores parts locally to ensure that it can quickly serve customers' needs.
Has its own process integration center
According to Xu, the biggest advantage of ASMI is the ALD process, and ASMI is also the world's largest supplier of ALD process equipment. According to published data, ALD equipment is an indispensable thin film deposition equipment for advanced integrated circuit manufacturing processes. The ALD process has the advantages of low process temperature, precise film thickness control and high step coverage.
At present, ASMI cooperates with many Chinese chip manufacturers and has installed a number of devices from less than 200mm to 300mm. Oriented applications include logic/fabs, storage and analog manufacturing, and wafer market. It has been used in China. The production platforms include Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), Enhanced Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD), Vertical Furnace, and Epitaxy.
It is reported that ASMI not only has R&D centers in Korea, Japan and the United States, but also has R&D centers in Belgium and Finland respectively. At the same time, Xu Lai said, 'The biggest difference between us and other equipment factories lies in: ASMI has its own process integration center. (Belgium). When we are doing advanced process research, we will find some applications. After discovering the applications, we will need the relevant materials, and then feedback to our material research center in Finland to study the corresponding material support processes. Finally, Feedback to the business unit to manufacture equipment according to requirements, provide to customers, and then update the equipment according to customer needs.
Optimistic about the growth of the future Chinese market
According to the latest content of the SEMI (International Semiconductor Industry Association)'s “Global Fab Forecast Report” published on February 28, 2018, the global fab equipment spending will increase by 5% in 2019, and it will show significant growth for the fourth consecutive year. Unless the original plan is substantially changed, mainland China will be the main driver of growth in equipment spending for global fabs in 2018 and 2019.
SEMI predicts that global fab equipment spending will be topped by Samsung in 2018 and 2019, but the investment amount is not as high as 2017. In contrast, in order to support multinational and local wafer fab programs, China will have 2018 Fab fab equipment spending will increase significantly by 57% from the previous year and by as much as 60% in 2019. The spending on equipment in mainland China is expected to surpass South Korea in 2019 and become the world’s highest expenditure area.
'Because of the strong growth performance of the Chinese market, ASMI has made a lot of changes since last year to strengthen market expansion and customer service. 'Xu Lai said, 'Actually, ASMI has been in China for 20 years, so far in China. The installed capacity is about 200, covering all customers in China. Now Chongqing, Xuzhou, Guangzhou, Qingdao and other places have new customers, so the corresponding team also has to continue to expand.
Xu La believes that 'ASMI has received a lot of recognition around the world and is the best supplier for Intel and TSMC. With the increase of China's business in the future, we believe that we will get more domestic customers' recognition in China.'
2. Slower growth of mobile phones and semiconductors Samsung faces tough challenges in 2018;
Samsung’s flagship smartphones, Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, officially launched on Friday, but this Korean electronics giant may face the most difficult challenges in recent years in 2018. In 2017, Samsung’s mobile division achieved growth in the market downturn. This is due to the release of the Galaxy S8, which is very different from many previous generations of smart phones. In addition, the dynamic changes in the semiconductor market are also beneficial to Samsung, which is used to supply shortages and increase demand, drive prices, help the company surpass Intel, and become The world's largest chip maker.
In addition, Apple also purchased so-called OLED panels from Samsung for the production of the new flagship mobile phone, the iPhone X, which helped to increase the profits of the Samsung mobile division. Samsung's stock price rose by more than 41% in 2017. The problem is that The trend of helping Samsung's growth last year may not appear in 2018. Investors are obviously more cautious, and Samsung’s stock price has barely increased this year.
First, market research firm Gartner released data showing that in the fourth quarter of 2017, global smart phone sales fell by 5.6%, which is the first decline in the industry since 2004. People insist on using mobile phones for longer, mobile phone prices. With steadily rising, sometimes even exceeding the $1,000 mark, consumers do not feel it necessary to pay high prices for the latest smartphones.
The competition in the mobile phone market may be more intense than ever. Samsung faces not only the challenges of Apple, but also faces fierce competition from domestic brands such as Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi in China. These smartphone manufacturers offer high specifications. The equipment price is much lower than that of Samsung and Apple products. In India, the key smartphone market, Xiaomi defeated Samsung in the fourth quarter.
Secondly, the semiconductor market revenue grew by 22.2% last year. It is expected that the growth rate in 2018 will be greatly slowed down. Considering that semiconductor is the main source of Samsung's profits last year, this may also be a big problem. Finally, Apple may try to pass another company. South Korean company LG purchase screen to reduce the dependence on Samsung display technology.
All these factors together constitute Samsung's future challenges, but there may be some bright spots to be discovered, depending on how the company seizes them. One of the most important announcements made by Samsung during the S9 release in February this year was the new transaction project. S9+ The price is 839.99 US dollars, this is one of the most expensive smart phones on the market, the high price may make people discourage.
However, Samsung allows consumers to use the old mobile phone to trade, you can preferential purchase Galaxy S9 and S9 +. Galaxy S8 and iPhone X old phones can reach 300 US dollars, Galaxy S7 can reach 200 US dollars. So even two years ago to buy a mobile phone, this It is also a considerable recovery price. This may prompt users who are considering delaying the upgrade of S7 to purchase new mobile phones.
In addition, IHS data shows that the most common Samsung flagship smartphone models are the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, all of which were released in 2016 with a total market share of 5.26%. The Galaxy S6 released in 2015 and released four years ago The Galaxy S5 is the second most popular model. Although the S9 looks similar to the S8, it is not the same as these older Galaxy devices. This may bring higher upgrade requirements to Samsung.
In fact, analysts at Counterpoint Research expect that sales of the Samsung S9 series phones in 2018 may be close to 43 million, which exceeds the sales of 35 million S8 mobile phones in 2017. However, these old mobile phone users may find similarities between the S9 and the S8. And choose the latter, and the latter is now becoming cheaper. This may affect Samsung’s mobile profits and revenue. The Korean tech giant will have to find new ways to convince users that the S9 is completely different, and This is a big challenge.
For Samsung, semiconductors are very important. Although the market may not grow as fast as last year, its size will still reach 451 billion US dollars, 7.5% higher than last year. Counterpoint Research claims that DRAM and NAND flash memory chips (Samsung specializes in production The prices of the chips are all rising. This should be good news for Samsung. Although the researchers pointed out that the semiconductor income in the first quarter may actually decline.
After a brilliant year, people’s expectations for Samsung are still high. But this year’s tech giant’s road to success will be even more difficult than it was in 2017. Netease Technology
3. From horizontal integration to vertical integration The global chip industry mergers and acquisitions intensified
Author: Ni Wei
With the increasing cost pressures and competitive pressures in the chip industry, industry leaders have increased their competitiveness and market share through mergers and acquisitions. The International Semiconductor Industry Association expects that the chip industry may move from horizontal integration to vertical integration in the up and down stream in the next ten years. Through acquisitions, chips The comprehensive strength of the manufacturers will become stronger and stronger, the industrial concentration will become higher and higher, and the oligopoly structure will be further strengthened.
Pattern change
Since 1992, Intel has occupied the throne of the world's largest chip maker. On January 30, 2018, Samsung announced its fiscal year 2017 financial report, its revenue was approximately 240 trillion won, and its operating profit was approximately 54 trillion won. Record. In addition to a record revenue, Samsung’s chip business revenue reached 69 billion U.S. dollars, pushing Intel’s sales of 63 billion U.S. dollars and becoming the world's largest chip maker.
Research company Gartner said that Samsung Electronics has surpassed Intel in the chip business and holds the largest market share in the chip industry. According to Gartner's statistics, Samsung accounted for 14.6% of the global chip market in 2017 and 13.8% for Intel. Samsung can surpass Intel and not only Benefit from its own diversified product supply, but also attributed to Intel's relatively single business layout.
In recent years, Samsung has been ranked first in the field of memory chips. In the early 1990s, Japanese companies were the overlords of this field. Samsung Electronics entered the market by purchasing patents from Japanese companies, and afterwards expanded in this area, 2017 In December, Samsung announced that it has developed the world's smallest dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip, which is more advanced than competitor technology, which has led directly to the company's global leadership in the computer chip, television and smartphone industry. In addition, Samsung Electronics Or Qualcomm's contract manufacturer, the latter is one of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturers, the two companies said they will establish a long-term strategic partnership.
Samsung counterattacked successfully through mergers and acquisitions, but Samsung is not the only industry giant that intends to seek expansion through mergers and acquisitions.
In November 2017, Broadcom formally issued a tender offer to Qualcomm for US$100.5 billion, and Qualcomm declined the quotation on the ground that 'the valuation was undervalued.' On February 5, 2018, Broadcom raised the purchase price to approximately US$146 billion. However, due to dissatisfaction with Qualcomm's bid for another chip company NXP (NXP), it will reduce Qualcomm’s overall purchase price to US$117 billion and was once again rejected by Qualcomm. By the end of February, Qualcomm’s attitude changed and announced that it would consider Total 160 billion US dollars in the acquisition plan.
On March 12, local time, US President Trump banned Broadcom from acquiring Qualcomm on the grounds of national security. After the Trump ban was issued, Broadcom officially issued a statement that it will withdraw its offer for Qualcomm and give up the Qualcomm Board of Directors. The nomination of 11 independent directors. At this point, the astronomical acquisition lasting nearly four months ended in failure.
M&A boom
According to reports, Intel Corporation had previously considered various acquisitions, including the bid for Broadcom, which was a response to Broadcom's hostile takeover of Qualcomm. According to industry sources, Intel hopes Broadcom will fail to acquire Qualcomm because the two companies will merge. It poses a serious threat to Intel. Insiders believe that Broadcom may remain active in mergers and acquisitions, and will pursue smaller, less controversial acquisitions, while memory and semiconductor capital equipment companies are expected to become potential targets.
Due to slowing performance growth and rising costs, in order to optimize product lines, control emerging technologies, and expand the upstream and downstream markets, major chip companies in recent years are keen to acquire companies with certain advantages in the same industry. Since 2015, the tide of chip industry mergers and acquisitions has not been established. .
Data from financial data provider Dealogic shows that in 2014, there were 369 global mergers and acquisitions in the chip industry, and the transaction volume for mergers and acquisitions was only 37.7 billion US dollars; in 2015, the number of chip company mergers and acquisitions was 276, compared with 369 in 2014. The number of chip company mergers and acquisitions showed a declining trend, but the transaction volume of individual mergers and acquisitions was even larger. According to a report released by the International Semiconductor Industry Association, in 2015, the global chip industry’s M&A transaction volume exceeded 60 billion U.S. dollars, compared to 2014. Almost doubling trend. The largest M&A deal in the global chip industry during the year was Avago Technologies' $37 billion purchase of Broadcom. In total, cash valued at $17 billion and stock value was about $20 billion. After the merger, the value of the new company is as high as 77 billion U.S. dollars.
Since then, M&A scale has been expanding year by year, and M&A records have been refreshed. In July 2016, Softbank acquired ARM for 23.4 billion pounds (about 31 billion U.S. dollars), becoming the second largest acquisition in semiconductor history (as of that time). Three months later, this record was broken by Qualcomm. In October 2016, Qualcomm announced the acquisition of NXP for US$47 billion to expand the range of chips and expand its business scope. It refreshed the record of the largest M&A transaction in the chip industry.
In 2017, the scale of individual mergers and acquisitions continued to rise. In November 2017, Broadcom proposed to acquire Qualcomm, a competitor with US$103 billion, at a price of US$70 per share, including US$60 in cash and US$10 in Broadcom’s stock. Subsequently, Qualcomm declined Broadcom’s acquisition, saying that the quotation was too low, the parties started tug-of-war, the purchase price rose and it was raised to 160 billion US dollars by 2018.
On March 2, 2018, Microchip Technology Inc. (Microchip Technology Inc.) announced that it will provide high-performance simulations for the aerospace, defense, communications, data centers, and industrial areas at a price of US$68.78, a total of US$8.35 billion. And Microsemi Corp. of mixed-signal ICs, which is 7% higher than the US$64.3 closing price on March 1st. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.
M&A survival
For a long time, the chip industry has suffered slow performance growth and the cost has been increasing year by year. Many chip companies have high capital output but cannot obtain high returns. Morgan Stanley said that due to the decline in the price of flash memory chips, the chip industry has already reached the top. Enterprises are aware of this trend and adopt mergers and acquisitions to meet the difficulties. For chip manufacturers, mergers and acquisitions will undoubtedly become a shortcut to increase their competitiveness, expand their living space and cut costs.
According to industry sources, reducing the number of chip manufacturers through mergers and acquisitions is expected to ease the trend of price competition. Industry survivors can also integrate complementary product lines and reduce sales channel investment. For acquirers, they can also save large sums of research funding. Get new technology, even open up the industry, hit the competition.
The International Semiconductor Industry Association predicts that in the next decade, the semiconductor industry will likely move from horizontal integration to upstream and downstream vertical integration. From horizontal to vertical, the overall strength of chip manufacturers will become stronger and stronger. , Oligopoly pattern or further strengthening.
Although competition in the chip industry has intensified, there has also been spurt growth on the demand side. At the just-concluded World Mobile Communications Conference in 2018, the replacement of mobile phones with artificial intelligence has become a major protagonist, and the giants are planning to launch artificial intelligence support. AI chip or platform architecture. Market research agency report shows that by 2023, the global AI chip market will exceed 10 billion US dollars.
Analysts believe that industry progress in emerging areas of the world surpasses expectations, and that the 'super cycle' of semiconductors is expected to continue in 2018. The explosive growth of demand from emerging areas such as virtual reality, smart homes and car networking will become a long-term boost for the chip industry. Power. Glion Exchange
4. Equipment factory ASML shares hit a record high
Micro-network news, Nikkei reported that Tokyo Electron (8035.JP) plant production capacity in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan is expected to double by the end of March 2020. In addition, the Japanese semiconductor equipment factory Screen Holdings (7735.JP) plans to increase capital expenditure by 40% for the next year (as of the end of March 2019).
Shares of ASML Holding NV ADS (ASML. US), a component of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, rose 1.38% on March 15th to close at US$214.44, setting a new record high. ASML ADS rose 54.92% last year, closing its eighth round in 9 years , It has increased by 23.37% so far this year.
ASML CEO Peter Wennink stated on January 17th that he would like to report on the 4th quarter results (Note: Some customers requested the shipment of chip lithography equipment in advance, plus advance recognition of two EUV revenues). Thanks to the strong growth, ASML's revenue in 2017, both net profit hit a record high.
Lam Research Corp., a maker of semiconductor etching machines, rose 0.20% to $223.08 on the 15th and the closing price on March 12 ($228.65) hit a record high. Lam Research announced on March 6th that the next five years Will return 50% (or higher) free cash flow to shareholders through stock repurchase and dividend distribution.