Following recent downward revisions in annual financial targets by semiconductor lithography equipment manufacturers ASML and Canon, Nikon has also announced a cut to its forecast.

According to a press release from Nikon, the company expects its 2024 performance to fall short of initial plans due to delays in the recovery of market conditions within its Precision Equipment Business and Components Business, resulting in lower-than-expected demand and postponed sales of certain products.

Nikon has also revised its consolidated financial forecast for the year ending March 31, 2025, citing a delayed recovery in semiconductor-related markets as the reason for adjusting its sales plans in the lithography system sector. However, sales in the Imaging Products Business are anticipated to align with projections.

Notably, IC Smart reported that ASML revealed its Q3 financial results on October 15, reporting sales and gross margins in line with expectations. However, new orders plummeted by 53% quarter-over-quarter, falling short of half the market’s expectations. ASML has also lowered its 2025 sales target from a previously estimated range of €30 to €40 billion down to €30 to €35 billion, attributing the slowdown to a lagging recovery in most markets, with certain fabs delaying their demand for lithography systems, particularly EUV systems, despite strong demand in the AI sector.

The same IC Smart report noted that on October 24, Canon announced record high revenues for Q3 2024 (July to September) but also lowered its full-year performance expectations. Revenue was revised down from an initial estimate of ¥4.6 trillion to ¥4.54 trillion, while operating profit was adjusted from ¥465 billion to ¥455.5 billion. The net income target was cut from ¥335 billion to ¥325 billion, with Canon attributing this to an increase in the yen’s exchange rate. Additionally, the company has reduced its sales target for semiconductor lithography machines from 244 units to 239 units for the current fiscal year.

(Photo credit: ASML)

Has the new semiconductor manufacturing equipment capable of rivaling ASML’s EUV lithography machines been shipped? Canon has announced that it will deliver its latest lithography platform, the FPA-1200NZ2C nanoimprint lithography (NIL) system for semiconductor manufacturing, to the Texas Institute for Electronics (TIE), a semiconductor consortium based in Texas, according to its press release.

It is worth noting that in October, 2023, the Japanese tech giant became the first company in the world to commercialize a semiconductor manufacturing system utilizing NIL technology, which creates circuit patterns using a different approach than traditional projection exposure technology, the press release notes. Now it has officially sealed the deal with a new client.

Canon states that with reduced power consumption and cost, NIL lithography equipment enables patterning with a minimum linewidth of 14 nm, equivalent to the 5 nm node that is required to produce most advanced logic semiconductors currently available. In addition to producing 5 nm logic chips, with further improvements, it is expected to be capable of manufacturing 2 nm products as well.

Citing an interview with Kazunori Iwamoto, Deputy General Manager of Canon’s Optical Equipment Division by Nikkei, a report by MoneyDJ notes that Canon aims to sell “a dozen units each year within 3 to 5 years”.

According to Canon’s explanation, in contrast to conventional photolithography equipment, which transfers a circuit pattern by projecting it onto the resist coated wafer, the new product does it by pressing a mask imprinted with the circuit pattern into the resist on the wafer like a stamp.

Because its circuit pattern transfer process does not go through an optical mechanism, fine circuit patterns on the mask can be faithfully reproduced on the wafer.

According to MoneyDJ, Canon has been collaborating with Japan’s major mask manufacturers, Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) and Kioxia, which was still Toshiba’s subsidiary at that time, to develop NIL technology for the past decade.

Citing Canon CEO Fujio Mitarai’s previous remarks with the Japan Times in 2023, MoneyDJ notes that Canon’s NIL technology provides small semiconductor manufacturers with the opportunity to produce advanced chips that are currently dominated by large corporations, with the price probably be “one digit less” than ASML’s extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems.

According to Mitarai, the power consumption of NIL equipment is only one-tenth that of EUV machines. While NIL may be difficult to replace EUV, he believes it will create new opportunities and demand, and many customers have already expressed interest.

Read more

• [News] Canon’s Nano-imprint Lithography Reduces Production Costs for Advanced Processes, Narrowing the Gap with ASML

(Photo credit: Canon)

On March 25, the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) disclosed its latest statistics.

The data revealed that in February 2024, the sales of Japanese semiconductor equipment (3-month moving average, including exports) reached JPY 317.418 billion, representing a growth of 7.8% compared to the same month last year. This also marked a second back-to-back month of growth, achieving the largest increase in 10 months (9.8% growth since April 2023).

Moreover, monthly sales crossed the 300 billion-yen threshold for the fourth consecutive month, hitting a new high over the 10 months (JPY 336.162 billion since April 2023).

Compared to the previous month, Japanese semiconductor equipment sales rose by 0.8%, marking the fourth consecutive month of monthly growth. In the cumulative period from January to February 2024, its sales stood at JPY 6,322.93 billion (+6.4% YoY), setting a new record high in the same period of previous years.

Semiconductor equipment manufacturers from Japan include Tokyo Electron (TEL), Advantest, Screen, Kokusai Electric, Hitachi High-Tech, Nikon, and Canon, etc.

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• [News] Subsidies to TSMC from Japan and China Increase Over Fivefold Annually
• [News] Semiconductor Equipment Sales in Japan Reach Nearly JPY 3.3 Trillion in 2023

(Photo credit: SEAJ Official Website)

Canon, one of the world’s major manufacturers of lithography equipment, announced the release of the FPA-1200NZ2C Nano-imprint Lithography (NIL) semiconductor equipment in October.

The CEO, Fujio Mitarai, recently stated that the new nano-imprint lithography technology opens up a new path for small semiconductor manufacturers to produce advanced chips.

Canon’s Semiconductor Equipment Business Manager, Kazunori Iwamoto, explained that nano-imprint lithography involves imprinting a mask with the semiconductor circuit pattern onto a wafer. With a single imprint, complex 2D or 3D circuit patterns can be formed in the appropriate locations. By improving the mask, it might even be possible to produce 2nm chips.

Reportedly, Canon’s nano-imprint lithography is capable of producing a minimum 5nm process size. In the 5nm process segment of the advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment market, currently dominated by ASML’s EUV exposure machines, Canon’s nano-imprint lithography might have the opportunity to narrow the gap.

Regarding equipment costs, Kazunori Iwamoto stated that customer costs vary, and the estimated cost of a single imprint process can sometimes be reduced to half that of traditional exposure equipment processes. Nano-imprint lithography equipment also has a smaller footprint, making it easier to introduce.

Previously, Fujio Mitarai mentioned that the pricing of nano-imprint lithography equipment is one digit less than that of ASML’s EUV equipment. However, the final pricing has not been disclosed yet.

According to NIKKEI’s interview, Iwamoto also indicated that Canon has received numerous inquiries from semiconductor manufacturers, universities, and research institutes. There is anticipation that it could serve as an alternative to EUV, with expectations for the production of various semiconductors, including flash, DRAM for personal computer, and logic ICs.

Read more

• [News] The Battle on Advanced Processes Intensifies as ASML Plans to Produce Ten Equipment Capable of 2nm Chip Production Next Year
• [News] EUV as a Strategic Asset in the Most Advanced Processes: Progress in Intel/TSMC/Samsung’s Adoptions

(Photo credit: Canon)