Physical Vapor Deposition Equipment Industry

Physical Vapor Deposition Equipment Market Analysis

The PVD Equipment Market is expected to register a CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period.

• Physical vapor deposition (PVD) has become one of the most widely used technologies in the semiconductor industry, with companies increasingly investing in the adoption of these solutions. PVD offers a range of advantages over the substitutes, such as low-temperature operation, low complexity of the process, and environment-friendly nature of the solution. Hence, the companies in the end-user industry are willing to incorporate these systems to leverage technology.
• The increasing use of microelectronics in a range of devices (from consumer electronics to medical equipment) is one of the trends impacting the rise in demand, with the consumer electronics sector expected to play an essential role in the market. Owing to the documented health risks to workers and the impact on the environment from exposure to hexavalent chromium (a carcinogen that occurs during the chrome plating process and is the most toxic form of chromium), the players in the industry are turning toward PVD.
• The increasing need for a suitable replacement for hard chrome in the aerospace components has been a critical supply chain priority for aircraft manufacturers. In April 2019, according to sme.org, the aerospace industry was turning to adopt PVD coatings as the healthy, nonhazardous, and REACH-conforming alternatives to hard chrome. These instances support the fact that the PVD market is poised to grow over the forecast period.
• The restrictions on all the types of nonessential trade between multiple countries that have been put due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic are contributing towards the declining sales of physical vapor deposition equipment. However, the demand for physical vapor deposition processes for the antimicrobial coatings has been gaining traction, primarily driving the growth of the physical vapor deposition equipment market.
• The social distancing measures that have been set up by governments and the suspension of all the nonessential international trade have created a substantial problem of cash flows during the initial months of the year. The countries that have been minimally impacted by the coronavirus pandemic are expected to become the key focus of the players currently that are seeking faster recovery from the COVID-19 slump.

Physical Vapor Deposition Equipment Market Trends

Medical Devices and Equipment is Expected to Boost the Market Growth

• PVD coatings on medical devices provide several benefits that include improved wear resistance, reduced friction, biocompatibility, decorative colors & aesthetic, chemical barrier, nickel sensitivity, saline solutions, and sterilization.
• Various medical devices like orthopedic implants, pacemakers, surgical instruments, orthodontic appliances, and dental instruments are coated with wear-resistant thin-film that is expected to modify the surface properties without changing the underlying material properties and biomechanical functionality.
• The increasing adoption of PVD to deposit wear-resistant and biocompatible thin-film coatings on various types of medical devices (including medical pressure sensors, orthopedic implants, pacemakers, stents, surgical instruments, orthodontic appliances, and dental instruments) is expected to boost the adoption of the technology during the forecast period.
• Moreover, in March 2020, Inorcoat presented its newest PVD plating technology for intaglio printing plates. The company has also been presenting new thin-film developments for the protective coating of the intaglio printing plates, primarily showing the benefit of applying a composite coating for this specific application. The company also states that the patent-pending solution will also help the security printing industry to take a step in making industrial production more environmentally free. The company also said that the PVD technology is a proven green and state of the art technology for substituting various galvanic process in production processes.
• Moreover, aging populations are also challenging the healthcare systems. As aging majorly affects the human body, an increasing number of people will require medical care. However, the number of young people is not growing as fast as the number of elderly, especially in countries such as Japan. Therefore, healthcare staff is anticipated to fall short in numbers and thereby being unable to assist the large group of aging people in society. This means that new applications and newer technology will become an essential factor for whoever needs and wants to receive proper care and attention. The US Census Bureau estimates that the global aging population could roughly reach 95 million by 2060, representing almost 23% of the total population.

Asia-Pacific is Expected to Account for the Largest Market

• Asia Pacific is expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the PVD equipment market owing to increasing R&D investments by manufacturers of the wafer and photovoltaic cells in the process of maintaining low-cost. Emerging economies in the region, like China, India, and Japan are expected to drive the growth of the market.
• The region has recorded an impressive growth of PVD service providers owing to the increasing adoption of PVD equipment and attractive profit margins and is expected to witness f due to the increasing manufacturer count of microelectronics applications and medical devices like orthopedic prosthetics, patient aid, diagnostic imaging, dental products, and consumables and growing partnerships and acquisitions in the region. For instance, in July 2019, Applied Materials announced the acquisition of the semiconductor equipment maker, Kokusai Electric, for USD 2.2 billion from KKR & Co. (KKR). This acquisition is expected to strengthen the Applied’s footprint in Asia and add to the existing processing technologies of the company.
• Additionally, the rise in investments from the government entities has led to an increase in the healthcare expenditure to enhance the healthcare infrastructure. Growing focus on patient safety, intensifying government legislation, and the technological revolution has fuelled the development of advanced medical devices and equipment boosting the market growth.
• Manufacturers of the medical devices are expected to benefit from the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA). This agreement is expected to improve market access to the region. Asia-Pacific Medical Technology Association estimates that the market for Medical devices could reach USD 133 billion by 2020, in the region. With the recent outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic across the region, there is a significant surge in demand for medical devices and equipment, especially for the ventilators, nucleic acid detectors, mask machines, and other temperature measurement equipment. Among all the medical devices demands, the life support equipment such as the patient monitors and ventilators have witnessed the largest spike in demand.
• Moreover, the region is the home for around 60% of the world’s population and provides an enormous potential for the market studied owing to the presence of the aging population and increasing healthcare expenditure. The growth of the market is also driven by new healthcare development projects and also due to the medical tourism industry that is well-established, in the region.

Physical Vapor Deposition Equipment Industry Overview

The PVD Equipment Market is highly competitive and is currently dominated by a few players from Asia-Pacific, followed by those in North America and Europe, with their technological expertise in deposition technology. The global market is expected to be consolidated in nature, and the major players with a prominent share in the market are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries by leveraging on strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and their profitability.

• August 2020 - Advanced Energy introduced its new Ascent MS multi-output power supply system. Designed to enable the lowest system and infrastructure costs in the industry for solar photovoltaic (PV) plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) systems, the Ascent MS is built on Advanced Energy's long legacy of bringing power system innovation to the manufacturing of advanced solar cells.
• November 2019 - Applied Materials announced the opening of the Materials Engineering Technology Accelerator (META Center), a facility aimed at speeding customer prototyping of new materials, process technologies, and devices. Applied's recently launched Endura CloverTM MRAM PVD platform is among the systems at the META Center, enabling this capability.

Physical Vapor Deposition Equipment Market Leaders