South Korean wafer inspection equipment manufacturer Nextin is benefiting indirectly from the US restrictions on semiconductor equipment exports to China and is accelerating its entry into the Chinese market. While on track to build a production base in China, the company has recently supplied its next-generation AEGIS-3 equipment to a Chinese customer.
According to a report from South Korean news outlet Theelec, Nextin delivered KRW7 billion (US$5.39 million) worth of AEGIS-3 equipment to a Chinese customer in the third quarter of 2023. This suggests a supply quantity of approximately one unit, given that a single AEGIS-3 costs about US$6 million.
Founded in 2010, Nextin specializes in supplying optical inspection equipment that identifies defects in semiconductor products after the photography process. The company boasts a diverse clientele, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and a German semiconductor research institute.
Optical inspection equipment can be categorized into two types based on light utilization: bright-field (obtaining images through reflected light) and dark-field (using scattered light for detection). AEGIS equipment supports both bright-field and dark-field operations, with bright-field detecting defects as small as 15nm, compared to 30nm for dark-field operation.
It is reported that AEGIS-3 offers a 30% improvement in inspection speed compared to AEGIS-2, reaching 1.47 TFlops in computing speed. Additionally, its production cost has been reduced from 30% in AEGIS-2 to 23% of its sales value. Nextin CEO Park Tae-hoon disclosed that the third-generation equipment will be shipped to Chinese foundry and memory companies, adding that some customers who have already ordered second-generation equipment are expressing interest in upgrading.
Nextin has already established a presence in the Chinese market, supplying equipment to SK Hynix China, alongside major Chinese players like Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC).
The company has further solidified its commitment to the Chinese market by signing an agreement with the Wuxi High-tech Zone and Wuxi Industrial Development Group for the "Advanced Inspection Detection Equipment Manufacturing and R&D Base Project." Under the initiative, Nextin will invest US$200 million in equipment R&D and production.
Nextin is also gearing up to supply electrostatic removal equipment ResQ for EUV processes and 3D wafer inspection equipment IRIS. However, due to reduced investments from prospective customers, the supply plans for these products have been delayed from the originally scheduled end of 2023 to 2024, impacting the company's 2023 performance. In the third quarter of the year, Nextin reported a revenue of KRW14.4 billion and an operating profit of KRW5.3 billion, representing year-on-year decreases of 66.0% and 77.6%, respectively.
Article translated by Willis Ke
