Type | Public |
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Traded as | NASDAQ: AMAT NASDAQ-100 Component S&P 500 Component |
Industry | Semiconductor materials |
Founded | 1967 |
Headquarters | Santa Clara, California, U.S. |
Key people | Michael R. Splinter (Chairman, President & CEO) |
Revenue | US$ 9.549 billion (FY 2010)[1] |
Operating income | US$ 1.384 billion (FY 2010)[1] |
Net income | US$ 937.9 million (FY 2010)[1] |
Total assets | US$ 10.943 billion (FY 2010)[1] |
Total equity | US$ 7.536 billion (FY 2010)[1] |
Employees | 13,000 (October 2010)[1] |
Website | AppliedMaterials.com |
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT, SEHK: 4336) is a capital equipment producer serving the semiconductor, TFT LCD display, Glass, WEB and solar (crystalline and thin film) manufacturing industries. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California in the Silicon Valley.
Applied Materials creates and commercializes nanomanufacturing technology used in the production of semiconductor (integrated circuit) chips for electronic gear, flat panel displays for computers and television, glass coatings for homes and buildings, web (flexible substrate) coatings for industry and photovoltaic solar cells and modules using both thin film and crystalline (aka wafer or bulk) photovoltaic technology.
Applied Materials is also participating in the lighting industry through the European OPAL 2008 (Organic Phosphorescent lights for Applications in the Lighting market 2008) Program with the aim to develop a production technology for organic light-emitting diodes.
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Founded in 1967 by Michael A. McNeilly and others, Applied Materials went public in 1972.
In 1992, the corporation settled a lawsuit with three former employees for an estimated $600,000. The suit complained that the employees were driven out of the company after complaining about the courses Applied Scholastics had been hired to teach there. [2]
In 1993, the Applied Materials' Precision 5000 was inducted into the Smithsonian Institution's permanent collection of Information Age technology.[3]
In November 1996, Applied Materials acquired two Israeli companies for an aggregate amount of $285 million. Opal Technologies and Orbot Instruments for $175 million and $110 million in cash, respectively. Orbot produces systems for inspecting patterned silicon wafers for yield enhancement during the semiconductor manufacturing process, as well as systems for inspecting masks used during the patterning process. While, Opal develops and manufactures high-speed Metrology systems used by semiconductor manufacturers to verify critical dimensions during the production of integrated circuits.[4]
In 2000, Etec Systems, Inc. was purchased.
On June 27, 2001, Applied acquired Israeli company Oramir Semiconductor Equipment Ltd., a supplier of advanced laser cleaning technologies for semiconductor wafers, in a purchase business combination for $21 million in cash.[5]
In 2009, Applied Materials opened its Solar Technology Center—the world’s largest commercial solar energy research and development facility in Xi’an, China.[6]
Applied Materials' acquisition of Semitool Inc. was completed in December 2009.
Applied Materials announced its acquisition of Varian Semiconductor in May 2011.[7]
Applied is organized into four major business sectors: Silicon Systems Group, Display, Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES) and Service.
The largest revenue sector is the Silicon sector. They have been the number one supplier of equipment to the chip making industry since the early 1990s.
In Semiconductor (aka Integrated Circuit), the company manufactures systems that perform most of the primary steps in the chip fabrication process, including atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), electrochemical plating (EP), etching, rapid thermal processing (RTP), chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), CDSEM metrology, wafer inspection, sem Defect Review, and reticle inspection. In recent years the Company has been advancing technologies for the emerging high-growth wafer packaging market, such as through-silicon via (TSV). With the acquisition of Semitool in late 2009, [8] the Company expanded its capabilities for this segment of the industry through complementary systems and technology.
The Service business, or Applied Global Services (AGS), covers a wide range of offerings.
Equipment Services
AGS offers equipment installation support and warranty extended support to customers who have purchased Applied Materials equipment, as well as maintenance support for installed based equipment. This ranges from standard preventive maintenance activities and emergency support to service contracts which guarantee manufacturing productivity metrics. These services offerings are available for the semiconductor, display, lighting, coating, thin-film solar, and crystalline silicon solar industries.
Mature Equipment and System Enhancements
AGS offers new and refurbished models of mature technology equipment, which have full warranties and have been qualified by Applied Materials. System upgrades and enhancements for installed base equipment are also offered.
Applied Materials offers software packages for automating the operation of complex manufacturing environments. These include tool automation, manufacturing execution systems, materials control, simulation and scheduling software and related software support services.
In the Display business, Applied Materials is considered the number one producer of capital equipment by VLSI Research Inc. an industry market research firm. This number one position is a combination of an existing business unit combined with the display business of Applied Films, acquired in mid-2006.
The manufacturing process for thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD's), commonly employed in notebook computers, desktop monitors, and now in televisions is similar to that employed for integrated circuits. In cleanroom environments both TFT-LCD and integrated circuit (IC) production use photolithography, chemical and physical vapor deposition, and advanced testing techniques.
With the acquisition of Applied Films, Applied Materials entered the Glass coating and Web coating businesses as well and both businesses are leaders in their markets. Also in 2006, Applied announced it was entering the solar manufacturing equipment business. The Solar, Glass and Web businesses are now organized into the EES sector of the Company.
In 2007, Applied announced the Applied SunFabTM thin film photovoltaic module production line, with single or tandem junction capability . SunFab applies silicon thin film layers to glass substrate that then produce electricity when exposed to sunlight. The unique aspect of SunFab is the use of large glass substrates, measuring 5.7 m2 (61 sq ft. or larger than a king size bed). Moser Baer has signed a deal with Applied Materials and started a plant in NOIDA, India where Applied Engineers are setting up the fab. Moser Baer is also expected to start one more plant in Chennai, India.
Applied has also penetrated the crystalline silicon solar market. In 2008, Applied acquired privately-held, Italy-based Baccini SpA for $330M giving Applied significant market share in the metallization steps of solar cell manufacturing. In the previous year, Applied acquired privately-held, Switzerland-based HCT Shaping Systems SA, the largest specialist in wafer sawing tools for both solar and semiconductor wafer markets, paying approximately $475 million.
Applied was listed as the leading supplier of PV (photovoltaic) manufacturing equipment for 2008 according to VLSI Research with sales of $797M.
Launched in 2011, the Applied Materials Parts Center is an easy online resource to source Applied Materials certified equipment parts. It includes spare parts for Applied's semiconductor equipment as well as parts for Baccini Cell Systems and PWS wire saws.
Applied Materials also operates a venture investing arm called Applied Ventures.
Applied Ventures invests in early-stage technology companies that promise to deliver high growth and exceptional returns. Its charter is to profitably invest in companies that provide a window on technologies that advance or complement Applied Materials' core expertise. These investments help develop technologies and markets that provide natural extensions to Applied Materials' core business and stimulate the growth of applications for semiconductors, displays, solar PV, and related products and services.
Investment Areas
The company has offices in 16 countries, United States, Japan, China, Singapore, Korea, Germany, Taiwan, France, Spain, Italy, India, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Switzerland. Its Santa Clara worldwide headquarters was built in 1998, and features a large outdoor sculpture ("Etude") by artist Richard Deutsch.[9]
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Applied’s SunFab line has very recently been certified by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) .[11]