SLUMP IN WORLD MFC MARKET
The world market for mass flow controllers plummeted by almost a third to US$4,000 million last year, an independent survey shows.
According to Electronic Journal, the Japanese publication which carried out the research, the collapse is mainly due to the dramatic slow down of the world's semiconductor industry.
The global market fall of 31 per cent was the MFC industry's largest ever contraction by volume. Meanwhile, in Japan, MFC sales were down even further, dropping 32.3 per cent to 68,000 million yen (US$600 million).
The survey shows Japanese group STEC was the world leader for the fourth year running with 32.4 per cent of the global market. US manufacturer Unit, which five years ago held the top spot, now trails with 17.1 per cent, although it is ahead of the competition at home. Aera has 16.2 per cent, Millipore 11.9 per cent and MKS 7.2 per cent.
In Japan, the industry is dominated by two companies with a combined market share of nearly 80 per cent. STEC has 42 per cent and Aera 36.5 with Hitachi Materials at 8.8 and Unit on 5.3.
In Japan, STEC management said the company's dominance was mainly due to sales to two of the largest semiconductor equipment manufacturers, Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron.
In the UK, Stuart Knight, the group's European sales manager, said the figures were evidence that the market was still willing to invest in higher specification, higher value equipment.
"Clearly, the semiconductor industry was depressed in 1998 but it still invested billions of dollars in mass flow controller technology, and we are extremely pleased that these figures show we are leading the field," he said. "The fact that our products are at the higher specification end of the market demonstrates that the market is still willing to pay a premium for quality, even in the current economic conditions."
He said revived demand for semiconductor chips would eventually work through the device makers and capital equipment manufacturers to MFC equipment manufacturers. However, he expected the world MFC market to stay flat in 1999, adding: "For the mass flow controller industry, the millennium is the light at the end of a very long tunnel."
|
World Market |
Japan Market |
|
|
|
