An overview of the global electronic chemicals market

Citation

(2000), "An overview of the global electronic chemicals market", Circuit World, Vol. 26 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/cw.2000.21726dab.032

An overview of the global electronic chemicals market

An overview of the global electronic chemicals market

Keywords Publications, Chemicals, Printed circuit boards, Semiconductors

IAL Consultants has brought together the most up-to-date information available on the global electronic chemicals market. The report is available as a complete report, or as two septate volumes:

• •

  Volume 1 – semiconductor chemicals.

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  Volume 2 – printed circuit boards (PCB).

The report is based on the extensive database developed by IAL in the course of over 20 years of research into this industry, as well as from a comprehensive programme of interviews with industry experts representing all sectors of the industry throughout Europe, the USA and Japan.

The complete report is now available at a price of £1,275. Separate volumes cost £675 each.

The global market for electronic chemicals, by geographic region, is shown in Table I.

Geographical coverage is extensive and includes data on the markets in:

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  Western Europe: France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Nordic, the UK and others.

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  North America: Canada, USA, Mexico.

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  Japan.

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  Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan): China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and others.

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  Rest of World (Africa, Brazil, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Puerto Rico, Turkey and others).

By major region, the market for semiconductor and PCB chemicals is divided as shown in Table II.

The decline in the global electronic chemicals market in the three years up to 1999 can be attributed to three main factors:

1. 1.

   Global over-capacity in semiconductor manufacturing.

2. 2.

   Tight inventory management by the OEMs.

3. 3.

   Asian economic crisis.

The semiconductor industry began expanding in 1999 with double-digit growth predicted for 2000 and 2001. This recovery is attributed largely to two factors:

1. 1.

   Growth in the use of the Internet.

2. 2.

   Exponential increase in e-commerce globally.

Specialist areas of growth in the semiconductor chemical market include:

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  Chemical mechanical planarisation slurries which continue to replace reactive ion etching in the polishing of silicon wafer substrates.

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  Gallium arsenide and other compound semiconductors – as used in telecommunications products.

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  Introduction of low-k resins and "silicon on insulation" technologies which will resolve problems currently associated with high density circuitry as miniaturisation of silicon chips continues to increase.

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  Development of photoresists for 193nm lithography.

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  Semiconductor gases are now available at purity levels of 10ppt (parts per trillion).

The global PCB market is also recovering from the recent downtum in the electronics market, due in part to the Asia crisis. The PCB market continues to be highly price competitive. Other characteristics of this market include:

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  increase in off-shore manufacturing;

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  growth in contract electronic manufacturing.

Future growth areas for PCB manufacturing include an increasing demand for more sophisticated boards for:

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  telecommunications and IT;

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  smart cards;

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  electronic gaming;

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  consumer goods, e.g. digital cameras.

The recent decline in the global market for electronic chemicals and the related pressure on the suppliers has resulted in:

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  Consolidation among existing suppliers.

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  Globalisation of PCB manufacturing and supply networks.

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  Introduction of new technologies and products by electronic chemical suppliers to stimulate market growth, e.g. SiLK low dielectric constant resins as insulating layers in high-density and high-speed integrated circuits.

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  Mineral acid manufacturers are now supplying the semiconductor market direct.

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  Growing trend to expand the scope of subcontracted chemicals management to include water and recycling facilities.

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  The demand by semiconductor chipmakers for improved products, services and lower prices has resulted in alliances between suppliers of different processing materials, e.g. wet chemical and high purity gas suppliers. These are tending to be global marketing alliances to mutually promote each other's complementary services to the chipmakers they serve.

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  The drive of countries like Taiwan towards self-sufficiency in terms of sourcing electronic chemicals.

For more details contact Cathy Galbraith, IAL Consultants, 109 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5TL, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 20 8810 0919; Fax: +44 (0) 20 8566 4931; Website: www.ialconsultants.com; E-mail: cathy.galbraith@brg.co.uk