Japanese Canon is developing a new generation of lithographic equipment for semiconductor production, able to compete with the products of Dutch ASML, which is almost a monopolist in the market of such solutions.
The new plant in Japan will also be a response to competitors' investments in the related area in the United States, South Korea and Taiwan.Image source: CaponThe investment is expected to total $345 million, including construction costs and installation of production equipment.
The plant will start production in the spring of 2025.
As a result, the company will double its production capacity in this niche.
Not only does the company intend to expand production, but it is also betting on new technology that will make it possible to produce next-generation semiconductors at low prices.
Today it makes lithographic equipment in two factories in Japan which is used to produce chips for car control systems, for example.The new plant will be built on a 70,000 m2 plot of land on the site of an existing facility.
This will be Canon's first new lithographic production facility built in 21 years, with construction starting in 2023.
In 2022, lithographic equipment sales are expected to grow 29 percent year-over-year to 180 machines - a fourfold increase from ten years ago.
The new plant will help meet growing demand.According to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, last year the global semiconductor market exceeded $500 billion for the first time in history.The industry expects it to exceed $1 trillion in 2030.Today, Canon controls 30% of the global lithographic equipment market by volume, second only to ASML, which accounts for 60%.
Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
(TSMC) announced plans to build their own new plants in the U.S.
and other countries.
The company has also developed next-generation technology called nanoimprint lithography.
It makes it possible to produce cutting-edge microchips at a lower cost than existing lithographic equipment.
The process is simplified thanks to a technique that allows you to literally \"stamp\" the patterns of integrated circuits, which can significantly reduce production costs - the development of technology involved Japanese Kioxia and Dai Nippon Printing.Today, the most indispensable technology using EUV lithography to form circuits at the nanometer level.
The only source of such technology today is the Dutch ASML.
Nevertheless, such equipment is expensive, costing about $138 million per machine and consuming a lot of energy.
If nanoprinting lithography reaches the stage of practical commercial use, Canon expects to reduce the cost of lithography by up to 40% and energy consumption by up to 90% compared to EUV.
This will shake the dominance of ASML in the market.
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