🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

ASM is well placed in chipmaking tools

• ASM International makes deposition equipment, used to place ultra-thin material layers on silicon wafers during chip production 1.
• It holds a mid-50s% share of the atomic layer deposition (ALD) market, one of its core tool areas 2.
• That position matters as chipmakers move to gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, a newer design that can lift speed and cut power use. The change can lift demand for ALD and epitaxy (Epi), which grows thin crystalline layers on wafers, through 2026 3.
• Recent growth came from equipment sales. ALD tools led, with Epi next, as advanced logic, foundry, and memory customers kept spending 3.

ASM’s outlook offers a read on chip spending

• ASM’s performance and outlook suggest chipmakers are still putting money into advanced logic, foundry, and memory capacity, though orders can swing from one quarter to the next 3.
• Much of that spending supports chips for AI and high-performance computing, with demand for GAA technology expected to stay firm through 2026 3.
• ASM’s manufacturing plans also track wider shifts in geopolitics and supply chains 3.
• The company can build tools in the U.S., has begun making some there, and is building a facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, due in the second half of 2026. That move fits a wider push to spread supply chains and lower tariff exposure 3.