Bond.az - Nikon is pursuing a comeback in semiconductor photolithography equipment by offering lower prices than ASML Holding, which holds more than 80% of the market, the Japanese company’s new president and CEO told Nikkei News.
Nikon President Yasuhiro Ohmura said that even with low prices, there is still plenty of profit to be had in lithography equipment. The company is looking to diversify away from reliance on Intel orders.
Nikon entered the photolithography market in the 1960s and led the global industry by the 1980s. The company opened Nikon Precision Inc. in Silicon Valley in 1982.
ASML emerged in the 1990s and eventually overtook Nikon’s traditional manufacturing approach by pioneering collaborative global supply chains. Nikon was slower to adopt extreme ultraviolet technology.
Nikon continues to develop systems for high-resolution packaging and maintains a strong market share in non-ultra-fine geometries like image sensors and power semiconductors using KrF lasers and i-line technology.
