# Canon to build new semiconductor lithography manufacturing facility



## Canon Rumors Guy (Oct 7, 2022)

> Canon Utsunomiya Office to install new manufacturing facilities, strengthen manufacturing capacity for semiconductor lithography systems
> TOKYO, October 6, 2022—Canon Inc. announced today that the company will install new manufacturing facilities at its Utsunomiya Office, which produces semiconductor lithography systems and other devices. The new facilities are scheduled to commence operation in the first half of 2025.
> The Canon Group, under Phase VI of its “Excellent Global Corporation Plan” series of 5-year management plans, aims to “accelerate our corporate portfolio transformation by improving productivity and creating new businesses.” As part of these efforts, Canon is working to expand its semiconductor lithography system business, one of the company’s primary strategic businesses.
> The semiconductor market is expected to see continued growth amid the transition towards a “smart society” led by such advancements as the IoT and 5G. Canon is working to strengthen its position in...



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## Chaitanya (Oct 7, 2022)

Good to see Canon investing in new fabs, hopefully they will be able to compete with Samsung and TSMC(probably for larger nodes right now).


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## J’s Pic (Oct 7, 2022)

These are not FABS like samsung and TSMC (to make semiconductors) - this expansion is to build lithography equipment.
Canon is a niche player with 3% market share (based on sales, or 30% in terms of # shipped) in 2020...But I agree - I hope they do well...It would not be good for Sensor and Camera R&D if Canon overall was loosing money.


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## David - Sydney (Oct 9, 2022)

J’s Pic said:


> These are not FABS like samsung and TSMC (to make semiconductors) - this expansion is to build lithography equipment.
> Canon is a niche player with 3% market share (based on sales, or 30% in terms of # shipped) in 2020...But I agree - I hope they do well...It would not be good for Sensor and Camera R&D if Canon overall was loosing money.


Yes, the dominant lithography player is AMSL in the Netherlands. They have 90+% market share and have the leading edge equipment. Samsung, Intel and TSMC are all shareholders as well so there is a vested interest for the main fabs to buy their gear. Micron and Hynix are #4/#5 and are basically memory chip fabs. 

It will be interesting to understand who are Canon's customers and what level of fabs they are selling their equipment into but it is clear that there is massive investment going on in EU/US/JP/CH for fabs on national security grounds and in particular to reduce some reliance on Taiwan/TMSC as drought and conflict are risks.

There is also pressure on AMSL to not sell leading edge equipment into China.

If you are interested in the current chip making industry then this video is useful and recent especially for the ASML/TMCS sections at the beginning.


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## Chaitanya (Oct 9, 2022)

David - Sydney said:


> Yes, the dominant lithography player is AMSL in the Netherlands. They have 90+% market share and have the leading edge equipment. Samsung, Intel and TSMC are all shareholders as well so there is a vested interest for the main fabs to buy their gear. Micron and Hynix are #4/#5 and are basically memory chip fabs.
> 
> It will be interesting to understand who are Canon's customers and what level of fabs they are selling their equipment into but it is clear that there is massive investment going on in EU/US/JP/CH for fabs on national security grounds and in particular to reduce some reliance on Taiwan/TMSC as drought and conflict are risks.
> 
> ...


This video also gives a better perspective into how ASML won the lithography race:


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## canonmike (Oct 9, 2022)

Yep. Would like to see Canon compete with the likes of ASML, who for now, remains King of the Hill, by a wide wide margin, in this market.


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## David - Sydney (Oct 10, 2022)

Chaitanya said:


> This video also gives a better perspective into how ASML won the lithography race:


Interesting video but it doesn't really address who are Canon/Nikon's current customers and why they still have a toehold in the current market. They could be selling to China as ASML isn't able to for instance. I was intrigued to discover than basically all the ASML lithography machines ever made are still in use and maintainable. That is remarkable.

Anyone know who makes the stacked/BSI sensor chips - is it just Canon and Sony?
I would assume that Canon does its own lithography for them so in that respect they would be a leader in that niche. I wonder if they sell the lithography machines to Sony 

It seems that the only other stacked chips in production are memory chips


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