Hybrid bonding market has been thrown wide open by ASMPT catch-up

As with all of Besi’s quarterly earnings reports in the past years, analysts last February focused on hybrid bonding, the technology that gave the machine builder an aura as ‘the ASML of the back-end.’ Its apparent untouchability in this area quickly started to evaporate, however, after the recent announcement of rival ASMPT. The back-end market leader – more than twice the size of Besi – has secured two orders for its Lithobolt hybrid bonders. It shows that you always have to look over your shoulders in the back end. It’s a market with a low threshold to technology entry, even for something as magical as hybrid bonding.

Hybrid bonding is an advanced technology that requires high precision and very clean operations. ASMPT is now showing that a lead in this area is a lot less commanding than ASML’s position in EUV for front-end chip manufacturing. Robin Ng is proving this by securing rock-hard orders. The ASMPT CEO says he’ll start delivering hybrid-bonding machines to customers in the second half of this year. He also expects to be able to announce more at the next quarterly earnings report.