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Back in the day, many industry leaders expected the 200mm market to dwindle over time as the 300mm market was more profitable because you could fit more chips on a single wafer and 300mm equipment had the newest technology going down to the smaller nodes pushing Moore's law every year. But, in 2015, there was a noticeable change in 200mm demand as we began to see many automotive and IoT manufacturers design their own chips and prefer to manufacture on 200mm. Suddenly, we started to see more production of the power chips made with gallium-nitride (GaN), and silicon carbide (SiC) wafers that are mostly made in 150mm and 200mm fabs, and we saw a total number of 200mm fabs around the globe go from 184 in 2016 to 216 in 2022. This sudden increased demand in the 200mm market altered the way that we looked at the old 200mm and 150mm equipment as most OEM manufacturers had already shut down their 200mm manufacturing lines and moved on to manufacturing the new 300mm equipment.
As manufacturers scrambled to figure out how to ramp up 200mm manufacturing lines, they found that there were parts and assemblies made by vendors that were no longer in business or they no longer manufactured those parts. As some OEMs began trying to manufacture new 200mm equipment, others started refurbishing older 200mm equipment for resale. Recent supply chain issues and chip shortages have exacerbated the issue, and used 200mm tools have skyrocketed in value as the wait times to purchase a new or refurbished 200mm tool have gotten longer and longer and the demand for these tools increases by the day.
Companies like Intel are dealing with this problem by snatching up 200mm fabs in mergers & acquisitions, like Tower Semiconductor, which Intel recently purchased for $5.4bn. As 200mm fabs around the world are running at 90% capacity or more, we will continue to see more M&A’s by big players like Intel move back into the 200mm business.
Another way companies are dealing with 200mm equipment shortage is by diversifying their supply chain strategies. Companies are increasingly turning to the secondary market, incorporating used equipment into their sourcing strategy. Indeed, at Moov, we have seen the average sale price for used equipment increase over the past year – in some cases more than double!
According to SEMI, the long-term trend to the end of 2024 is for a 17 percent increase in capacity for 200mm facilities. However, analysts believe this will not be enough to keep up with demand. The Electronics Components Industry Association recently issued a statement warning of continued shortages.
“As demand for automotive electronics has rebounded, the shortage of chips produced on 200mm wafers has become much more acute,” according to ECIA’s Joel Huskra. “The typical car requires 50 to 150 semiconductors.”
In conclusion, the 200mm market is here to stay and we can expect to see the value of pre-owned 200mm equipment hold for the foreseeable future.
While competitors typically take an average of one month (and some up to 6) to pay a seller for a tool, this refurbisher received payment 1 day after the contract was signed through Moov’s global marketplace.
A large US refurbisher had entered into a deal with an end user for a top of market tool. However, when the end user was acquired, the deal fell through leaving the refurbisher with a costly asset on their books. When the refurbisher finally turned to Moov, they had already been paying storage fees for this unused asset for 9 months. The refurbisher had tried utilizing numerous brokers to offload the tool to no avail, due in part to the specific requirements of their original buyer. The refurbisher needed this asset off of their books in the new year – so they turned to Moov’s global marketplace for used semiconductor manufacturing equipment in hopes of finding a buyer.
After months of searching for buyers, the refurbisher was able to quickly secure an international buyer through Moov’s global marketplace. The entire process from contract through arrival, uncrating, and installation took a mere 35 days. Whatsmore, the refurbisher received payment one day after contract signing thanks to Moov’s buyer verification and payment support.
Moov worked with this end user to rapidly recapitalize 11 underutilized assets in order to secure production line budget for a critical tool they needed.
A production line team at a US manufacturer needed an ICP downstream asher but only had partial funding to acquire this system. Knowing Moov’s marketplace offers the largest selection of pre-owned tools from reliable suppliers, they turned to Moov to explore their options.
After consulting with Moov’s team of experts with over $1bn in experience helping manufacturers recoup capital on idle and underutilized assets, this manufacturer identified several idle systems they could sell through Moov’s global marketplace. The manufacturer was able to rapidly sell 11 tools in order to gain the capital they needed to acquire a YES Ecoclean system.
Moov was able to work with this manufacturer to ensure that capital from the sales of their used assets went back to a specific fabrication center and production line budget — ensuring this production line team had the funding they needed to acquire their plasma resist strip/descum system.
The end-to-end process of procuring a replacement tool, deinstallation, crating, air freight, rigging and installation would typically take 6 months. Through Moov, the entire process only took 4 weeks, enabling this fabrication center to minimize revenue loss when a critical machine went down.
A high volume wafer fabrication center in the western US was already in the market for a new ion implanter. When a second tool went down, their situation shifted from “opportunistic” to “critical.” Their senior facilities manager reached out to Moov to learn how they could expedite procuring a VIISion 200 replacement through Moov’s global marketplace.
Moov’s experienced managed service team quickly identified a tool from an international supplier that matched this fabrication center’s exact requirements. Thanks to Moov’s ecosystem of aftermarket service providers, Moov was able to provide an end-to-end solution for not only procuring the tool but also deinstallation, crating, air freight, rigging and installation. This process would typically take up to 6 months, but Moov was able to provide a 4-week solution to help this fabrication center get back up and running.
Knowing this fabrication center needed to avoid any further delays, Moov proactively sourced the exact model of pump the fab needed, at a discount, from a refurbisher partner, to ensure the client was able to get their new implanter up and running smoothly.
Since the process of procuring and delivering this replacement system moved so fast, it took longer for payment to process than it did to ship and install the tool itself. Thanks to Moov’s flexible payment options, the team was able to accommodate expedited delivery while still ensuring the seller was paid in a timely fashion.
In 2022, the semiconductor industry faced challenges including slowing sales growth and tensions in the global supply chain. However, the industry also saw record levels of investment in research and development by U.S. companies and the passage of the CHIPS Act, which provides incentives for domestic chip manufacturing, bringing total business Private Investments for U.S. Semiconductor Production to over 200 billion dollars. The US CHIPS Act has already prompted new commitments to construct manufacturing facilities in the US, and it is expected to create jobs and drive economic investment. The Act provides $52 billion in funding for a range of technologies, including large-scale fabrication facilities and projects for current-generation chips, new and specialty technologies, and manufacturing equipment and material suppliers. It also includes a 25% advanced manufacturing investment tax credit. In addition to manufacturing incentives, the CHIPS Act also focuses on research and development, with $13 billion in funding to foster collaboration between government, industry, academia, and other stakeholders and to develop the pipeline of scientists and engineers necessary to fuel future innovation in the semiconductor industry. The Act establishes several programs to support R&D, including the National Semiconductor Technology Center, the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program, Manufacturing USA Institutes, and the CHIPS Defense Fund. Other countries that have implemented their own chips acts include Europe, Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Japan, with hundreds of billions of dollars added to the global investment in semiconductor manufacturing and research. Despite these efforts, significant challenges remain for the semiconductor industry, including developing a skilled workforce, maintaining leadership in chip design, and maintaining access to global markets and supply chains. To overcome these challenges, it is essential for the industry to maintain a strong partnership with local governments and other key players, to ensure that the industry is able to meet the increasing demand for semiconductors.