Equipment suppliers hopeful of market recovery
US-based deposition equipment supplier Veeco Instruments believes that the market for its MBE and MOCVD tools is starting to improve.
While total company revenue in the quarter ended September 30 came in at just over $100 million, only 10% of that figure was generated from sales of epitaxial equipment.
That proportion compares unfavorably with the first nine months of the current fiscal year overall, where sales of MBE and MOCVD machines have represented some 15% of revenue.
Demand for Veeco's deposition tools has also declined markedly from last year, with Veeco CEO Edward Braun commenting that a company-wide improvement in sales had been offset by the weak compound semiconductor sector.
Revenue from customers targeting the LED and wireless chip sectors was down 37% on 2004 for the first nine months of the year, although Braun added that he believed the dip in demand had now bottomed out.
Following its recent introduction of the GaNzilla II MOCVD system, which is designed to manufacture GaN-based LEDs in high volumes, Veeco expects to see a better performance from the compound semiconductor division in 2006.
But investors seemed unimpressed with Veeco's overall financial performance, as the company's share price dropped by 10% after the results were announced.
Meanwhile, MBE equipment supplier Riber revealed total sales of €9.3 million ($11.2 million) for the first nine months of 2005, an 82% increase on the same period last year.
Although a significant part of this increase came through Riber's subsidiary company Addon, the French company has also begun to benefit from an improving market for its production machines.
Overall, the French company has witnessed a 40% increase in orders compared with the same period last year.
The current backlog, which is valued at €12.5 million, includes two orders for production machines, and ten orders for research machines.
