Scientech orders stretching to 2028

BOOKED SOLID: The advanced packaging manufacturer has orders stretching out for years as the AI boom’s ravenous demand for material outstrips industry capacity Scientech Corp (辛耘), which specializes in supplying advanced packaging equipment and reclaimed wafers, has clear order visibility through 2028, benefiting from explosive demand for chip manufacturing equipment used to produce artificial intelligence (AI) chips.Reclaimed wafers are primarily used for monitoring, testing and calibrating semiconductor equipment rather than producing actual chips, said the company, which distributes semiconductor manufacturing equipment used in lithography, etching, thin-film processes from other brands.Scientech on Wednesday said it booked as much as NT$13 billion (US$415 million) in contract liabilities, indicating brisk customer demand and potential revenue growth for the next few years after receiving advanced payments.The growth momentum is fueled by strong demand for advanced chip packaging equipment used in the production of AI chips and high-performance computing (HPC) devices, the company said. That has led to telescoping equipment delivery lead time to about eight to 12 months, it said. That is longer than an average delivery period of between four and six months for similar equipment. “Our own-brand capacity has been fully booked this year. We are preparing for next year and the year after,” Scientech vice chairman M.T. Hsu (許明棋) told reporters at a media gathering in Taipei. “Customers’ demand for advanced packaging equipment used in AI and HPC-related applications is very strong. We cannot catch up with their pace.”The semiconductor industry is growing at such an “overwhelming” pace, which has not previously been seen, the company said. The global semiconductor industry is likely to generate US$1 trillion this year, earlier than the 2030 or 2031 mark estimated by most industry research houses, it said.To meet customer demand, Scientech is building new factories to expand advanced packaging equipment and reclaimed wafers capacity in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口) and in Tainan. By 2028, the company would double its own-brand equipment capacity, it said.The strong growth momentum is expected to boost its own-brand equipment and reclaimed wafer revenue share to more than 50 percent of its total revenue this year, compared with 40 percent in the past few years, Scientech said. The company plans to create a new sales and services office in the US by the first half of next year to meet customer demand and align with a major customer’s new advanced packaging fab construction in Arizona, it said.Scientech’s revenue last year grew 17.37 percent year-on-year to NT$11.37 billion, surpassing NT$10 billion for the first time and setting an all-time high.