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Applied Materials

NuAxi groups public briefings that mention Applied Materials: product launches, capacity and pricing signals, and supply-chain changes. The page updates continuously.

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Fri, Oct 30

  1. Impact score 30

    SEMICON West 2026: AI Made the Steps Faster. The Time Between Them Is Next.

    Conference report from SEMICON West 2026: SEMI President and CEO Ajit Manocha told the CEO Summit that the semiconductor industry crossed $1 trillion in annual revenue this year, almost four years ahead of earlier projections; a year ago the forecast for 2030 was $1 trillion, now it is $2 trillion, with $3 trillion possible by 2035; the industry has 102 new fabs coming online through 2029 and needs more than 50 beyond that by 2035. Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi named the shortage of engineers as the industry's challenge, and Brooks Automation CEO Dave Jarzynka noted a wafer spends only about 25% of its time in the fab actually being processed. In the design session "Bridging Design and Manufacturing with AI" on Tuesday, October 13 in Room 20 at Moscone North, speakers from TSMC, Intel, Applied Materials, Lam Research, Cadence, Silvaco, PDF Solutions, McKinsey, Cerebras, SanDisk and VerifAIX covered seven themes. Specific figures include: Intel's DTCO decisions dropped from weeks to one or two hours; Applied Materials cut a 3D gate-all-around device simulation from 20.5 days to 19.7 hours on GPUs; McKinsey showed AI-assisted programs reaching tape-out nine months after design starts and cutting debug closure time by 40%; TSMC's agentic place-and-route runs around the clock at 3 to 5x productivity; Rhines showed NAND process steps rising from about 400 to as many as 1,800, wafer lot cycle time stretching from 8 to 10 weeks at 28nm to 16 weeks or more, and mask sets climbing from $1 to 3 million to $20 to 40 million or more; VerifAIX cited first-silicon success at 14% and the best AI pass rate on hardware code generation at 34%; PDF Solutions' Kimon Michaels cited Qualcomm's engineering and manufacturing data growing 600% since 2022, while less than 5% of manufacturing data gets analyzed; Lam's research published in Nature found engineers and algorithms working together, with the handoff in the right place, cut the cost of reaching a process target in half. The session also covered co-optimization (DTCO/STCO) replacing sequential handoffs, trust issues in autonomous design, and digital twins changing development. This is a conference recap and industry background; the source does not state the cause (no single event cause).

    NAND3D gate-all-around deviceCFETTSMC, Intel and 16 totalSemiWiki

Thu, Oct 29

  1. Impact score 60

    [Opinion] Elon Musk Is at It Again

    Tesla and SpaceX are building Terafab in Texas, with Musk aiming to establish a facility capable of processing 1 million wafers per month within 10 years. Intel has joined as a technology partner, and TSMC has confirmed discussions on potential cooperation. Procurement officials from Tesla and SpaceX visited Korean suppliers at SEMICON West. Whether Terafab will materialize as planned remains uncertain.

    Tesla, SpaceX and 6 totalThe ElecCapacity Change

Wed, Oct 28

  1. Impact score 45

    Samsung Display CEO Meets Senior Applied Materials Executive

    According to information obtained on Oct. 27, Lee Cheong, president and CEO of Samsung Display, reportedly met with a senior executive from US equipment maker Applied Materials last week. Industry observers believe the two sides may have discussed organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology that does not use fine metal masks (FMMs), as well as related deposition equipment. The meeting has drawn attention because Samsung Display is actively pursuing non-FMM technology development: the company launched its proprietary Micro Patterned OLED (MPO) development project in March 2026 and is currently working on a 7-inch engineering sample (ES), aiming to produce a prototype as early as the end of 2026. Non-FMM technology forms red, green and blue (RGB) OLED pixels without using fine metal masks; a representative approach involves depositing organic materials across the entire substrate and then defining pixel patterns through photolithography and etching, similar to semiconductor manufacturing processes. Eliminating the area occupied by masks increases the aperture ratio, improving brightness and lifespan at the same current level; the technology also makes design changes easier because new masks are not required for each product, and for small displays it is considered particularly suitable for high-mix, low-volume production. Samsung Display installed a Generation 5.5 full-substrate vertical deposition system from AKT, an Applied Materials subsidiary, at its A2 production line in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, in September 2025. Applied Materials announced in November 2024 that it would supply Samsung Display with equipment to evaluate its proprietary non-FMM technology, MAX OLED; the equipment was reportedly delivered under a conditional purchase order (CPO), which converts into a firm order if the system meets agreed performance criteria within the evaluation period. In addition, China's Visionox previously decided to adopt its proprietary non-FMM process, ViP, for its Generation 8.6 OLED production line and selected Applied Materials as its deposition equipment supplier.

    OLEDnon-FMM OLEDMAX OLED deposition equipmentSamsung Display, Applied Materials and 4 totalThe Elec

Tue, Oct 27

  1. Impact score 45

    RT NEWS: #AppliedMaterials is doubling down on #hybridbonding, planning to raise its stake in #BESI from 9% to 20%. The Dutch firm reportedly holds ar...

    Applied Materials is planning to raise its stake in BESI from 9% to 20%; the transaction is pending U.S. approval (the headline text is truncated at 'Pending U.S....' without stating the full condition). BESI reportedly holds around 70% of the global hybrid bonding equipment market. This is a planned stake increase, not yet completed, and BESI is described as a Dutch firm.

    hybrid bonding equipmentApplied Materials, BESITrendForce Official (Market Data)Partnership/M&A
  2. Impact score 45

    Applied Materials to raise Besi stake to 20% as hybrid-bonding orders surge

    Applied Materials plans to increase its stake in Dutch semiconductor equipment maker BE Semiconductor Industries (Besi) to approximately 20% from 9%, deepening its involvement in advanced chip packaging as demand for hybrid-bonding equipment accelerates. The stake increase is a plan; the source does not state the cause.

    hybrid-bonding equipmentApplied Materials, BE Semiconductor Industries (Besi)DigiTimes AsiaPartnership/M&A
  3. Impact score 48

    [News] Applied Materials to Double BESI Stake to 20% on Hybrid Bonding Demand, Pending U.S. Antitrust Review

    Applied Materials plans to increase its stake in Dutch company BE Semiconductor Industries (BESI) from 9% to approximately 20%, deepening a partnership focused on advanced packaging technologies for AI chips. The transaction is structured through an accelerated share purchase agreement and is subject to U.S. antitrust review; the company said it does not intend to increase its stake beyond approximately 20% or seek representation on BESI's board. Applied Materials became BESI's largest shareholder after acquiring a 9% stake in April 2025; the two companies have collaborated on hybrid bonding technology since 2020 and jointly developed Kinex, an integrated die-to-wafer hybrid bonding system. According to ijiwei, BESI holds approximately 70% of the global hybrid bonding equipment market. According to Reuters on October 22, BESI's third-quarter orders rose 96% year over year to €342.6 million, and hybrid bonding equipment orders in the first nine months of 2026 more than doubled compared with the full-year 2025 level; BESI's latest earnings release shows its hybrid bonding customer base has expanded to 23, with cumulative equipment demand exceeding 215 systems. According to ijiwei, Chinese equipment maker Piotech generated RMB 136 million in hybrid bonding equipment revenue in 2025, up 41.92% year over year, and secured repeat orders for its wafer-to-wafer hybrid bonding systems.

    hybrid bonding equipmentKinex die-to-wafer hybrid bonding systemDatacon 8800 CHAMEO ultra plus AC systemApplied Materials, BE Semiconductor Industries (BESI) and 3 totalTrendForcePartnership/M&A

Fri, Oct 23

  1. Impact score 0

    From Sequential R&D to Trusted Co-Innovation: The EPIC Model for Semiconductor Innovation

    On October 12, 2026, Applied Materials President and CEO Gary Dickerson delivered a keynote at the unveiling of the EPIC Center in Sunnyvale, CA, advocating for a shift from sequential R&D to trusted co-innovation. The EPIC Center is intended to bring Applied Materials and industry partners together to work on next-generation materials, processes, and equipment.

    next-generation materials, processes and equipmentApplied MaterialsSemiWikiPartnership/M&A

Wed, Oct 21

  1. Impact score 58

    ASML and other critical semiconductor equipment suppliers expedite shipments to Musk's Terafab

    Elon Musk said on October 20, during a live broadcast of SpaceX's Q3 2026 earnings call on X, that ASML and other critical semiconductor equipment suppliers have expedited shipments to the Terafab semiconductor manufacturing facility, a joint megaproject between Tesla and SpaceX, to support his aggressive timeline. He said the company is targeting volume chip production at Terafab's primary facility in Gibbons Creek, Texas, by the third or fourth quarter of 2028, emphasizing that the timeline is highly aspirational and carries 'big error bars'; SpaceX plans to manufacture its first experimental test chip at its research fabrication facility in Austin, Texas, around Q2 2027. Terafab will use traditional extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems utilizing Intel's 14A manufacturing node; Intel officially joined the Terafab venture in April 2026 to co-develop and refactor silicon fabrication technology. According to unofficial sources, Terafab's first EUV tool was reportedly slated for delivery in mid-2027, and it remains unclear if this is the expedited timeline Musk referred to. Other major suppliers include Applied Materials, Lam Research, and KLA Corporation, as well as Japan's Tokyo Electron; Tesla and SpaceX are also in talks with about 10 South Korean equipment makers, including Hanmi Semiconductor (advanced packaging equipment) and HPSP (high-pressure hydrogen annealing equipment). Musk also outlined AI compute goals: 2.5 to 3 GW of computing capacity active by the end of 2026, a total of 13 GW by the end of 2027, and plans to bring a 440,000-GPU Nvidia 'Vera Rubin' training cluster online by the end of Q2 2027. The event remains a plan/target and volume production has not been achieved.

    EUV lithography systemslogic chipsmemoryASML, Tesla and 11 totalTom's HardwareCapacity Change
  2. Impact score 60

    [News] Musk Targets Terafab Chip Volume Production in 3Q28, First SRAM Test Chip by Mid-2027

    According to Reuters, Elon Musk said during a SpaceX conference call that his semiconductor manufacturing venture, Terafab, is targeting volume production in 3Q28, though he acknowledged that either 3Q or 4Q remains possible, describing the timeline as "very aggressive" given that advanced logic chip fabs in the U.S. typically take three years or more to build. Before volume production, Terafab aims to produce its first functional test chip using SRAM circuits around May or June 2027 at its Austin research facility. Equipment supply remains a key challenge, particularly from ASML and U.S. suppliers such as Applied Materials and KLA; asked whether SpaceX had ordered EUV lithography systems from ASML, Musk did not answer directly but thanked ASML and other suppliers for accelerating equipment deliveries. Per Reuters, ASML expects demand to outstrip supply through 2028 despite plans to expand EUV production capacity. According to The Elec, Tesla and SpaceX are in talks with South Korean semiconductor materials, components, and equipment suppliers to establish Terafab's supply chain, with several companies signing NDAs; HPSP and Hanmi Semiconductor remain the only two Korean equipment suppliers publicly linked to Terafab, and Terafab is reportedly seeking prices even lower than those offered by Chinese competitors. On manufacturing partners, TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei confirmed ongoing discussions but stressed that any fab involving TSMC must be operated by the company, contrasting with Musk's October 7 remarks that his companies would build and operate Terafab, potentially allowing TSMC to sublease space without an operational role; meanwhile, per Reuters citing Bloomberg, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the company would remain involved in Terafab.

    SRAM test chipadvanced logic chipsEUV lithography systemsTerafab, Tesla and 10 totalTrendForceCapacity Change
  3. Impact score 10

    The Industry Challenge: AI Is Forcing Semiconductor Innovation Beyond the Chip

    Applied Materials held the unveiling of its EPIC Center on October 12, 2026, in Sunnyvale, CA, with President and CEO Gary Dickerson and the founding partners in attendance. The article states that as AI models grow and applications expand, the challenge is no longer simply to make individual chips faster or more efficient, but to build complete computing systems that deliver greater performance, move more data and consume less energy while bringing new technologies to market faster. The event brought together perspectives from SK hynix, TSMC, Micron, Intel, Samsung, Broadcom, NVIDIA and Qualcomm alongside Applied Materials, with the common conclusion that advances in one part of the system increasingly depend on progress in others. AI computing places intense demands on processors, memory, interconnects, advanced packaging and power efficiency; as AI workloads grow, moving data between memory and compute becomes a major constraint on performance and energy consumption, making HBM, closer memory-logic integration and new packaging approaches central to system design. For interconnects, large AI systems distribute workloads across multiple processors, making communication speed, latency and energy use increasingly consequential, and approaches such as advanced chip integration and co-packaged optics require progress in materials, processes, packaging and system architecture together. Thermal management adds further complexity. The article argues that no single company can solve these problems alone, that earlier collaboration can expose constraints sooner and align development priorities, and that Applied Materials' EPIC Center is designed to bring industry partners together to work on materials, processes and equipment relevant to future semiconductor technologies.

    processorsmemoryhigh-bandwidth memory (HBM)Applied Materials, SK hynix and 9 totalSemiWiki

Tue, Oct 20

  1. Impact score 55

    Musk’s Terafab in Talks With About 10 Korean Chip Suppliers

    According to information gathered by THE ELEC on Oct. 20, Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX are holding talks with South Korean semiconductor materials, components and equipment suppliers to secure a supply chain for their Terafab chip manufacturing project. Several companies have already signed NDAs and advanced to discussions over specific products. On the morning of Oct. 13, the opening day of SEMICON West 2026 (held in San Francisco from Oct. 13 to 15), Terafab representatives visited booths operated by about 10 Korean companies, including ENF Technology, Dongjin Semichem, Asflow, BMT, GnG Intech, Unisem, MiCo and Hanmi Semiconductor; talks with many of these companies had already been underway for several months. ENF Technology, Asflow and GnG Intech made their first contacts during the event; BMT is in talks over valves and fluid-handling components; KoMiCo signed a three-party NDA with Tesla and SpaceX about a month ago to discuss cleaning services for an R&D pilot line in Texas; Unisem has signed an NDA to discuss environmental equipment including scrubbers; Dongjin Semichem has been in talks with Tesla for two to three months centered on its thinner production plant in Texas, with materials including phosphoric acid also under discussion; Hanmi Semiconductor is discussing the supply of thermocompression (TC) bonders; HPSP has agreed to supply one high-pressure hydrogen annealing (HPA) system for Terafab's R&D line; and ISC has advanced to exchanging samples and R&D design information. Overseas, Fujifilm holds regular meetings with Terafab's procurement team on potential supplies of CMP slurries, photoresists, etchants and cleaning chemicals, and Lam Research and Applied Materials are understood to have established dedicated Terafab teams. Tesla and SpaceX do not do business with Chinese suppliers, and industry officials said the companies are seeking prices even lower than those offered by Chinese suppliers, making Korea a good option. Terafab was jointly announced by Tesla, SpaceX and xAI in March, targeting a fab capable of processing 1 million wafers a month within 10 years, with an estimated initial investment of $16.8 billion and more than 3,000 jobs expected; SpaceX signed a tax abatement agreement with Texas earlier this month and began construction, and industry observers expect the initial 100,000-wafers-per-month facility to be completed before 2030. Most of these supply arrangements remain in the discussion stage and are not yet confirmed as final supply agreements.

    semiconductor materialspiping componentsvalvesTesla, SpaceX and 16 totalThe ElecPartnership/M&A
  2. Impact score 60

    Video Interview: Applied Materials CEO on the Economics Behind Its $5B EPIC Bet

    Following the unveiling of its EPIC Center, Applied Materials revealed strong financial projections tied to its $5B EPIC investment. EE Times covered how it all ties together and featured a new video interview with CEO Gary Dickerson. The source gives no specific date, product, or capacity details; the event reflects a announced plan and projections rather than a completed result.

    Applied MaterialsEE Times

Fri, Oct 16

  1. Impact score 55

    SK hynix reportedly playing hardball with Trump admin over 3D NAND fab

    According to Reuters, SK hynix is reportedly asking the U.S. government to authorize additional semiconductor manufacturing equipment shipments to its Dalian facility in China in exchange for a commitment to build a new NAND fab in the U.S. The Dalian fab is the world's only facility to produce 192-layer floating gate 3D NAND for Solidigm's data center-grade SSDs for AI, enterprise, and hyperscale data centers; its manufacturing operations rely on equipment from American suppliers including Applied Materials, KLA, and Lam Research, whose exports to China require a U.S. government license. Solidigm has requested U.S. export licenses for additional tools, but the U.S. government has yet to authorize the shipments; last December the U.S. Commerce Department granted SK hynix a limited authorization for equipment deliveries to Dalian for 2026, but has not issued a similar equipment export authorization for 2027. Solidigm wants to install additional manufacturing equipment in the unused portions of its Dalian Mod B facility, completed in 2023, and is also considering an initial public offering as early as 2027 to raise additional capital. The proposed U.S. fab and the equipment export arrangement remain reported proposals, not approved or implemented actions.

    3D NAND192-layer floating gate 3D NANDdata center-grade SSDsSK hynix, Solidigm and 5 totalTom's HardwarePolicy/Regulation

Thu, Oct 15

  1. Impact score 55

    Applied Materials CEO says agentic AI drives wafer demand

    Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson said at a global investor conference that, driven by the rise of AI computing, customer demand to produce more good dies per wafer and to rapidly expand wafer output has reached levels unprecedented in his career. He said the company expects revenue from related businesses to grow by more than 20% over the next several years. This is the CEO's forward-looking expectation for the business, a forecast rather than an achieved result.

    wafersApplied MaterialsDigiTimes Asia
  2. Impact score 0

    AI chip complexity is widening opportunities for semiconductor equipment makers

    The source states that rising complexity in AI chip manufacturing is creating new opportunities for semiconductor equipment suppliers. Applied Materials says rising transistor counts, denser interconnects, and more advanced memory architectures are expanding demand across logic, DRAM, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) manufacturing. No specific figures, dates, or price movements are given; this is background industry information.

    logicDRAMhigh-bandwidth memory (HBM)Applied MaterialsDigiTimes Asia
  3. Impact score 0

    Applied Materials targets US$5 billion advanced packaging revenue

    Applied Materials projects more than US$5 billion in advanced packaging revenue in the coming years, viewing advanced packaging as a key growth lever as AI chips move to multi-die designs, and notes that hybrid bonding, metrology, and services are becoming central to competition in semiconductor equipment.

    advanced packagingApplied MaterialsDigiTimes Asia
  4. Impact score 60

    Applied Materials tracks 100-plus fabs as cleanroom capacity limits equipment growth

    Applied Materials tracked more than 100 wafer fabrication projects worldwide over the past two quarters, as strong artificial intelligence demand continued to meet constraints in cleanroom construction and supply chain capacity. The company added more than 10 projects in each quarter, indicating that global fab development and future cleanroom availability were still expanding. The source cites cleanroom construction and supply chain capacity constraints as the limiting factor.

    cleanroom capacitywafer fabrication projectsApplied MaterialsDigiTimes AsiaCapacity Change
  5. Impact score 58

    Applied Materials targets AI-driven semiconductor equipment growth through 2030

    Applied Materials says it is increasing investments in research and development, manufacturing and its global supply chain as it targets greater market share and profitability through 2030. The company expects advanced logic, DRAM and advanced packaging to generate about 75% of wafer fab equipment (WFE) market growth from 2025 to 2030. By 2030, it is targeting more than 2pp of additional WFE market share, along with non-GAAP gross and operating margins of approximately 54% and 40%, respectively. These are stated targets and expectations, not achieved results.

    advanced logicDRAMadvanced packagingApplied MaterialsDigiTimes AsiaCapacity Change

Wed, Oct 14

  1. Impact score 25

    Applied Materials Establishes World’s Largest Semiconductor R&D Center

    Applied Materials opened the EPIC Center in California with up to $5 billion investment, partnering with TSMC, Intel, Samsung, Micron, and SK hynix to accelerate the commercialization of advanced semiconductor technologies, particularly for AI leadership.

    Applied Materials, TSMC and 6 totalThe ElecPartnership/M&A

Mon, Oct 12

  1. Impact score 60

    [News] ASML Reportedly Plans 10% Parts Price Hike in South Korea Starting Jan. 2027; Equipment Prices May Also Rise

    According to The Elec, ASML reportedly plans to raise prices by 10% on all replacement parts supplied to South Korea, covering both EUV and DUV lithography systems. The report notes that ASML notified Samsung Electronics and SK hynix of the planned increase through its South Korean subsidiary in early September, and the new prices will apply to deliveries starting in January 2027. The increase covers everything from regularly purchased consumables to major components replaced due to failures or declining performance; while ASML has previously adjusted prices for individual parts due to rising raw material costs or supply shortages, an across-the-board 10% hike is unusual, and industry sources suggest the company is seeking a larger share of its customers' profits. ASML is also reportedly discussing higher prices for newly ordered lithography equipment with major customers. For context, ASML generated €8.193 billion in revenue from services, replacement parts, and upgrades for installed equipment last year, roughly 25% of its total revenue of €32.667 billion, and expects this business to grow by more than 30% this year. According to Reuters, its EUV machines priced around US$200 million each are nearly sold out through 2027, and next-generation High-NA EUV systems are priced at roughly US$400 million each. ASML has also reportedly sought a 10% price increase for DUV lithography equipment, with some Chinese customers accepting, while TSMC is said to be resisting price hikes for both EUV and DUV systems; Applied Materials said in August that higher prices were supporting margin expansion, Tokyo Electron said in late July it was negotiating price adjustments to offset rising costs; lead times for certain deposition equipment components have increased from four months to as long as 10 months, and some Japanese-made laser-processing components face delivery times of up to 40 months. The source does not state a single definitive cause, linking the increases to AI-driven capacity expansion, inflation, and rising raw material costs.

    EUV光刻系统更换零部件DUV光刻系统更换零部件EUV光刻设备ASML, Samsung Electronics and 6 totalTrendForcePrice Movement