BEDFORD, UK: VLSI Research Inc. recently released the Top 10 rankings list of critical subsystems suppliers to the semiconductor and related manufacturing industries in 2007.

In what was a challenging year with mixed results, the top six places on the Top 10 Supplier list remained the same. John West, MD of VLSI Research Europe, remarked: "This will be remembered as the year when the photovoltaic (PV) industry emerged as a key opportunity for subsystems suppliers and provided a timely boost in sales for those companies actively addressing this market."

Weakness in the display industry was partially offset by gains from solar, but lackluster sales into the semiconductor segment meant that growth for the year was restrained to 3.5 percent. Sales reached $6.99bn in 2007, still 4 percent short of the peak level of $7.31bn in 2000.

Carl Zeiss SMT retained the top spot as strong demand for high-value lenses used in immersion and dry 193nm lithography tools drove the German company's subsystems revenues up 22 percent to $836mn. Edwards, now under new ownership, remained in second place with revenues of $639mn, and was followed by MKS Instruments in third place with subsystems sales of $568mn.

Ebara jumped from 9th position to 7th this year with strong sales for dry pumps and ozone subsystems, which resulted in a 24 percent growth in revenues. Another out-performer was Gigaphoton with 50 percent revenue growth this year enabling a five-place gain to 9th position.

The top 10 suppliers account for over half of the total revenues of the critical subsystems industry. This compares to the combined market share of 41 percent that the Top 10 Suppliers held in 2000, and is a sign of the continued consolidation within the industry.

Critical subsystems are products that have been designed to address specific applications within the semiconductor and related manufacturing industries, and actively affect the processing and handling of substrates.