North America Atomic Layer Deposition Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The North American atomic layer deposition market is expected to register a CAGR of 5%, over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). The atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a technique of producing a high-quality thin film of precursor materials on substrates, to improve or modify properties, such as conductivity, chemical resistance, and strength. It is an important process in the fabrication of microelectronics, due to its ability to produce accurate thicknesses and uniform surfaces and is a part of tools available for the synthesis of nanomaterials. The demand for thin-film semiconductors has increased over the last years in smart wearables, solar panels, and smartphones, due to its lightweight, compact size, high efficiency, and durability. It is commonly used in Li-ion batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, sensors, implants, and transistors, among others.

The increasing acceptance of drone and unmanned aerial vehicles in the US commercial spaces for security purposes is thriving in the semiconductor industry. As per the Federal Aviation and Administration, there are a total of 1,563,263 registered drones, out of which 441,709 are commercial drones and 1,117,900 are recreational drones, as of March 2020.

The growing demand for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets in the United States is fueling the R&D spending for the development of unmanned aerial vehicle. According to Teal Group 2019 report, US R&D spending may increase from an estimated USD 2.2 billion in 2020 to USD 2.7 billion in 2029, and procurement may ramp up from USD 2.5 billion in 2020 to about USD 3.3 billion, by the end of the decade.

Strong federal policies, like the solar investment tax credit, declining costs, and increasing demand across the private and public sector for clean electricity, in the United States has led to the average annual growth rate of 48% in the solar industry. The country has nearly 78 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity installed that is enough to power 14.5 million homes. In 2019, the solar industry generated USD 18 billion of investment in the American economy, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

Restraints that can inhibit the market growth are huge initial investments required for setting up new manufacturing facility, limited substrate size, and increasing cost of raw materials. However, growing demand for sensors and Li-ion battery in the smartphone industry and increasing application of solar systems in various industries are expected to create numerous opportunities for the growth of the atomic layer deposition market in the future.

Key Market Trends

Semiconductor and Electronics Segment are Expected to Hold the Largest Market Share in the Forecast Period

• The market is expected to be driven due to the increasing electronics industry and semiconductor solutions in North America. The surging number of solar energy projects and data centers across the United States and Canada, to meet the demand for renewable and clean sources of energy, is driving the production of Li-ion battery and solar systems.
• Explosive growth in cloud computing has created a strong demand for data centers in the United States. Northern Virginia, the world’s largest data center market by a large margin, planned nearly 15-meter sq. ft space for construction, according to the CBRE Q1 2019 report.
• Climate change is shaping data center legislation, and technology and players are entering in partnership with energy providers in developing more energy-efficient power generating systems. For instance, in January 2020, NV Energy, the country's largest public utility, partnered with Google to power its upcoming USD 600 million data center in Henderson. The agreement involves roughly 350 MW of solar photovoltaics or PV, and between 250 MW and 280 MW of battery storage at one or more hybrid projects.
• Reduction of the solar investment tax credit and price of PV system, along with the increasing competitiveness of battery storage, is driving the renewable energy sources in the United States. By the end of September 2019, the United States deployed over 2 million solar PV systems, totaling about 71,300 MW of solar capacity and generating over 100 TWh of electricity.

Bioscience is Expected to Showcase a Significant Market Growth

• ALD is a technique increasingly used in nanotechnology, as it is ideal for film formation in the nanometer and Angstrom length scales. It is also effectively used to modify the surface chemistry and functionalization of engineering-related and biologically important surfaces and to alter mechanical, electrical, chemical, and other properties of materials that are increasingly used in biomedical engineering and biological sciences, such as bioelectronic device, implantable device, biosensor, drug delivery device, tissue engineering scaffold, and bioassay device.
• As per the WHO medical device report, the United States accounts for 41% of the global medical device sales and has a huge market for medical devices. The increase in chronic condition patient’s population, including chronic heart failure and osteoarthritis, has fueled the demand for implants.
• Medical centers and hospitals, along with research institutes, collaborated with implantable devices companies in the United States to meet the growing demand for medical devices. For instance, in October 2019, NeuroRecovery Technologies merged with GTX Medical, to develop two technologies for spinal cord injury patients: Targeted Epidural Spine Stimulation (TESS), a spinal cord implant which is a stimulation system with real-time motion feedback, and Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation (tSCS). The merged entity is now known as GTX medical BV.
• COVID-19 outbreak has outspaced the hospitals’ supply and the mortality rate is increasing, due to the lack of medical equipment. The Unites States comprised 4,00,000 COVID-19 positive cases, with more than 12,000 fatal cases, as of April 8, 2020. The United States' largest car manufactures are stepping in to manufacture necessary medical devices, to meet the surging demand. For instance, General Motors planned to start producing 10,000 ventilators per month by mid-April, and Ford planned to produce 50,000 of the devices in the next 100 days. The Food and Drug Administration has also reduced certain barriers in the medical device approval process, to enable speedy production of ventilators, which are used to help patients breathe.

Competitive Landscape

The North American atomic layer deposition market is highly competitive and consists of a few major players, such as Applied Materials Inc., Lam Research Corporation, Entegris Inc., Veeco Instruments Inc., and Picosun USA LLC. In terms of market share, few of the major players currently dominate the market studied. These major players with a prominent share in the market are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies are leveraging strategic collaborative initiatives, to increase their market share and profitability.

• February 2020 - Lam Research Corporation collaborated with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and opened a new advanced technology production facility in Penang, Malaysia. The new facility is expected to be 700,000 sq. ft and the construction is expected to begin in early 2020. It is projected that approximately 350 jobs will be created over the next three years, including roles in manufacturing, facilities, and on-site shipping and receiving.
• January 2020 - Entegris Inc. acquired Sinmat, a CMP slurry manufacturer located in Gainesville, Florida. It is now part of the Specialty Chemicals and Engineered Materials Division of Entegris Inc. Sinmat is one of the leaders in production of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) slurries used for polishing ultra-hard surface materials, including SiC (silicon carbide) and GaN (gallium nitride). SiC and GaN are substrates utilized in the fast-growing end-markets of power electronics and advanced communications. This acquisition is likely to broaden Entegris capabilities in CMP cleans, filtration, and applications technology.

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• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
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