“Those who climb bravely aim at the peak”, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) ( Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) , SH; yesterday’s closing price was 113.94 yuan / share), Yin Zhiyao, chairman of the board, wrote in the chairman’s speech of the company’s 2021 annual report.
Yin Zhiyao’s “ambition at the peak” is the result of Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) making concerted efforts in the fields of etching equipment and MOCVD equipment. In 2021, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) operating revenue was 3.108 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 36.72%. Among them, the income of etching equipment was 2.004 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 55.44%.
“So far this year (2021), primo hd-rie for 3D NAND applications and primo ad-rie-e for 7 nm and below node logic applications account for 50% of the total equipment shipments.” Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) official website.
3D NAND is the most advanced product in the field of flash memory, and only a few wafer factories such as TSMC and Samsung have the manufacturing capacity of node chips of 7 nm and below.
However, it should be noted that the semiconductor industry has certain cyclical characteristics Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) also said that in the process of improving the prosperity of the industry, the industry often increases capital expenditure and rapidly increases the demand for relevant equipment; In the process of declining prosperity of the industry, the industry may reduce capital expenditure, which will have an adverse impact on the demand for equipment.
Last year’s revenue exceeded 1 billion
Yin Zhiyao is an etching equipment expert. He joined Lam research in 1986 and led the development of etching technology. At the same time, he brought solutions to some key products. Before the establishment of Zhongwei, Yin Zhiyao worked in Applied Materials for 13 years. He once served as vice president of the company, general manager of plasma etching equipment business group, vice president of procurement in Asia, chief technology officer of Applied Materials Asia, etc.
His career is inseparable from etching equipment. The two former companies are also the top three etching equipment manufacturers in the world. According to Gartner’s statistics in 2019, Fanlin semiconductor, Tokyo electronics and applied materials account for 44.7%, 28.0% and 18.1% of the global market shares respectively.
Under the leadership of Yin Zhiyao, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) has gradually grown into the leader of etching equipment in China. According to Gartner’s statistics in 2019, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) etching equipment ranked sixth in the world, with a market share of 1.1%.
In 2021, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) operating revenue was 3.108 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 36.72%. Among them, the revenue of etching equipment was 2.004 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of about 55.44% and a gross profit margin of 44.32%.
Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) main products can be divided into CCP etching equipment, ICP etching equipment and MOCVD equipment.
In terms of etching equipment technology, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) related equipment can be used for the production of advanced logic chip manufacturing process and 3D NAND chip. The 12 inch high-end etching equipment developed by the company has been used in advanced chip production lines such as 65 nm to 5 nm for international well-known customers. At the same time, according to the needs of advanced integrated circuit manufacturers, the company has developed 5nm and more advanced etching equipment for the processing of several key steps, and has obtained batch orders from industry-leading customers. At present, the company is developing a new generation of etching equipment and etching processes including more advanced Damascus to meet the needs of customers, which can cover more etching needs below 5 nm and more equipment for different key applications.
In fact, at present, only TSMC and Samsung can produce advanced process chips of 5 nm or less in the world.
In the field of 3D NAND, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) capacitive plasma etching equipment can be applied to mass production of 64 layers and 128 layers. At the same time, the company is developing a new generation of etching equipment and processes that can cover key etching applications of 128 layers and above and the corresponding extremely high aspect ratio according to the needs of memory manufacturers.
In addition, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) is carrying out technology research and development of next-generation products to meet the ICP etching needs of logic chips below 5 nm, DRAM chips of 1x nm and 3D NAND chips above 128 layers, and research and development of high-yield ICP etching equipment.
For the development of etching equipment business, Yin Zhiyao said in the chairman’s speech: “the company’s CCP plasma etching equipment products continue to maintain competitive advantages, continuously improve the market share in the logic and memory chip manufacturing production lines of front-line customers outside China, including the advanced 5-nanometer chip production line and the next-generation pilot production line, and have entered the top three or even the top two in the market share of some key customers.”
Mini led air outlet
In the impression of many investors, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) is the leader of etching equipment. In fact, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) ‘s MOCVD products also have great influence in the LED equipment market, especially when the trend of mini LED is rising.
According to trendforce Jibang consulting, with the improvement of the penetration rate of mini LED backlight display and the gradual entry of mini led direct display into commercial display and other markets, the demand for LED epitaxial chips brought by the new mini / micro LED display will grow rapidly.
Ping An Securities Research Report shows that MOCVD equipment is the key equipment for LED manufacturing, and the purchase amount accounts for more than 50% of the production line investment. 2021 is called the first year of mini led. According to the statistics of GGII, more than 80% of the investment in the LED industry chain during the year focused on LED display, especially in the field of mini / micro led. The investment in mini LED production capacity boosted the demand for MOCVD.
Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) , an important supplier of MOCVD equipment, accounted for 41% of the global market of MOCVD for gallium nitride based LEDs in 2018 according to IHS Markit; In the second half of 2018, gallium nitride accounted for more than 60% of the global CVD market, especially in the second half of 2018.
Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) released the MOCVD device prismonimax for mass production of high-performance Mini LEDs in June 2021. Within six months, it has received batch orders from many leading customers in China, totaling more than 100 cavities, and continues to receive more orders.
On March 29, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) also announced on the official wechat that Nanchang Zhongwei Semiconductor Equipment Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary, had received a purchase order for 52 cavity MOCVD equipment of zhaochi technology.
As a technology intensive industry, the development of Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) mocvd business is inseparable from talents Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) official website shows that Ji Hua, vice president and general manager of Nanchang Zhongwei and MOCVD China, is mainly involved in MOCVD business in his leadership team; Guo Shiping, vice president and general manager of MOCVD products department.
Ji Hua is described on the company’s official website as “leading the team in China to actively promote MOCVD equipment sales service, realize explosive sales business growth within three years, and be responsible for the establishment and operation of Nanchang Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) .”
Guo Shiping is mainly engaged in the development and management of MOCVD equipment, and has many years of experience in epitaxial process development, equipment R & D and operation of compound semiconductor materials. From 2006 to 2012, Guo Shiping served as senior researcher and director of operation and R & D of gallium nitride department in iqe-rf company of the United States, mainly engaged in the R & D and operation of gallium nitride transistor and MOCVD epitaxial growth of light-emitting material.
Gallium nitride is one of the third generation semiconductors. Moreover, the third generation semiconductor is also a major application direction of MOCVD equipment Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) said: “in view of the rapid development of compound semiconductor power device market application, the company is developing silicon-based gallium nitride and silicon carbide power device special epitaxial equipment, constantly enriching the company’s equipment product line and strengthening the company’s competitive advantage in the third-generation semiconductor equipment market.”
However, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc.China(688012) also suggests that in recent years, wafer factories and LED epitaxial wafer manufacturers have carefully expanded their production. It cannot be ruled out that the subsequent investment of individual downstream wafer factories and LED epitaxial wafer manufacturers is less than expected, and the purchase demand for relevant equipment is weakened, which will affect the order volume of the company and adversely affect the performance of the company.
