Wondering how iPhones becoming sleeker every year? Thank this Tokyo-based company
Chipmakers are making a costly bet on a technology that will cram even more transistors onto silicon.
By Bloomberg | Updated:
By Pavel Alpeyev and Yuki Furukawa
After two decades in development, chipmakers are making a costly bet on a technology that will cram even more transistors onto silicon. Their success may hinge on a little-known company in the suburbs of Tokyo.
Lasertec Corp. is the world’s sole maker of equipment that tests glass squares slightly bigger than a CD case that act as a stencil for chip designs. By shining light through the squares, circuits smaller than the width of a few strands of DNA are imprinted onto silicon wafers in a process called lithography. These templates have to be perfect: even a tiny defect can make every single chip in the batch unusable.
Consumers take it for granted that gadgets will keep getting slimmer, more powerful and cheaper, but the chip companies are running out of ways to etch ever smaller circuit patterns onto silicon. After years of setbacks, the industry has settled on extreme ultraviolet lithography, which uses plasma as the light source to draw lines smaller than 7 nanometers. That’s the size seen in Apple Inc.’s A12 Bionic chip, featured in the iPhone XS and XR.
In 2017, Yokohama, Japan-based Lasertec solved the final piece of the puzzle when it created a machine that can test blank EUV masks for internal flaws, giving it a monopoly. The company’s stock has tripled since then.
ADVERTISEMENT
Lasertec has already received orders for 4 billion yen ($36 million) machines that test EUV blanks, according to Lasertec President Osamu Okabayashi. The company may see additional sales as soon as this summer, depending on how quickly Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. ramp up mass production, he said. Lasertec closed 5.2 percent higher in Tokyo on Tuesday, the biggest gain since the start of the month.
“We spent six years developing this equipment,” Okabayashi said in an interview. “At this point it’s become an industry standard and it would be very difficult for somebody else to enter the space.”
An EUV mask, a sandwich of about 80 alternating layers of silicon and molybdenum, can fetch as much as $100,000. Only two companies – glassmakers Hoya Corp. and AGC Inc., both in Japan – manufacture the blanks. Lasertec’s machines can spot problems early on, which is critical to making the technology cost competitive. “For EUV, masks have to be perfect,” Okabayashi said.
EUV lithography is so complex and expensive that so far only Samsung and TSMC have said they will use it to move to 7-nanometer chipmaking. Intel Corp. has delayed its introduction, while difficulties in making EUV economically viable have prompted Globalfoundries Inc. to reportedly abandon it altogether.
ADVERTISEMENT
Samsung has said that the move lets it use chip area 40 percent more efficiently, improves performance by 20 percent and halves power consumption. Apple’s 7-nanometer processor is manufactured by TSMC and is specialized for machine-learning applications. In the past few months, Qualcomm Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co. unveiled a 7-nanometer chip that will power 5G devices.
Apple iPhone XS Max, Google Pixel 3XL: Big Smartphones Ruled 2018
1/17
Life without a smartphone seems impossible today. Buoyed by consumer demand, mobile companies are trying to outsmart each other with cutting-edge technology, specifications, premium design among other features. Like every year, 2018, too, saw smartphones with radical technology - quad-camera, a bionic chip, a Bluetooth stylus - trying to woo consumers.Here's a look at the premium smartphones that hit the mart in 2018.
(In Pic: On the left is Apple's iPhone XS Max, and on the right is Google's Pixel 3 XL)
Life without a smartphone seems impossible today. Buoyed by consumer demand, mobile companies are trying to outsmart each other with cutting-edge technology, specifications, premium design among othe..
Read More
FEBRUARY
Japanese handset-maker Sony launched its flagship smartphone, Xperia XZ2 with a 5.7-inch HDR display. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845, the smartphone boasts of 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage (with microSD slot). The device also supports gigabit data speeds. Sony also launched the 5-inch, XZ2 compact smartphone, that is also powered by a Snapdragon 845 processor. While the XZ2 is priced at Rs 72,990, the XZ2 Compact is priced at Rs 44,990 respectively.
FEBRUARY Japanese handset-maker Sony launched its flagship smartphone, Xperia XZ2 with a 5.7-inch HDR display. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845, the smartphone boasts of 4GB of RAM and 64GB of st..
Read More
MARCH
March saw the launch of the Galaxy S9 Plus from the Samsung stable. Sleek and beautiful, with a glass-and-metal body, it also has a 6.2-inch Super AMOLED Infinity Display with QHD+ resolution, minimal bezels on all sides, HDR10 and Always On Display. It runs Android 8.0 Oreo and is priced at Rs 52,900. The phone uses Exynos 9810 processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB internal storage and a microSD card slot.
MARCHMarch saw the launch of the Galaxy S9 Plus from the Samsung stable. Sleek and beautiful, with a glass-and-metal body, it also has a 6.2-inch Super AMOLED Infinity Display with QHD+ resolution, m..
Read More
A 6.10-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1080 pixels by 2240 pixels at a PPI of 408 pixels per inch. The Huawei P20 Pro is powered by 1.8GHz octa-core (4x2.36GHz + 4x1.8GHz) processor and it comes with 6GB of RAM. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Huawei P20 Pro packs a 40-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 24-megapixel front shooter for selfies. The device is priced at Rs 59,999.
A 6.10-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1080 pixels by 2240 pixels at a PPI of 408 pixels per inch. The Huawei P20 Pro is powered by 1.8GHz octa-core (4x2.36GHz + 4x1.8GHz) processor and..
Read More
JULY
This is the manufacturer's latest flagship smartphone to foray in India. Marking the revival of the Oppo Find smartphone series, the smartphone boasts of a motorised slider that contains the phone's cameras, helping reduce the size of the display bezels. The design decision makes it one of the first smartphones in the world to achieve this feat. Apart from that, the handset's key highlights include Face Recognition technology, a Snapdragon 845 SoC, 8GB of RAM, and a premium all-glass design. The device is priced at Rs 59,990.
JULYThis is the manufacturer's latest flagship smartphone to foray in India. Marking the revival of the Oppo Find smartphone series, the smartphone boasts of a motorised slider that contains the phon..
Read More
The BlackBerry KEY2 with extra security to keep your data safe houses latest Android 8.1 Oreo Operating System, a 12MP+12MP dual rear camera system with 2x optical zoom, an 8MP front camera and 3500mAh battery with "Quick Charge 3.0" technology. The BlackBerry KEY2 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 660. It has "Speed Key", a universal shortcut key that makes it possible to instantly access apps, contacts and functions. The keyboard includes in-keyboard fingerprint sensor with updated mechanics for an improved tactile response and convenient user experience. The device is priced at Rs 42,990.
The BlackBerry KEY2 with extra security to keep your data safe houses latest Android 8.1 Oreo Operating System, a 12MP+12MP dual rear camera system with 2x optical zoom, an 8MP front camera and 3500m..
Read More
AUGUST
Samsung unveiled their flagship in India only in August. However, the Galaxy Note 9 had already been launched globally earlier in August. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 features a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display which features a screen resolution of 1,440 x 2,960 pixels (514ppi). Driving the phone, a combination of 2.7GHz quad-core M3 Mongoose and 1.7GHz quad-core Cortex A55 processors are present and those are seated on the Exynos 9 Octa 9810 chipset. The processor is aided by 6GB of RAM and Mali-G72 MP18 GPU. The phone comes with Corning Gorilla Glass v5 screen protection and boots on Android v8.1 (Oreo) operating system. There is a fingerprint sensor present allowing you to quickly unlock the device. The 512 GB storage variant starts from Rs 75,900.
AUGUSTSamsung unveiled their flagship in India only in August. However, the Galaxy Note 9 had already been launched globally earlier in August. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 features a 6.4-inch Super AMO..
Read More
SEPTEMBER
Apple released the iPhone XS, a faster version of its flagship X, at the Cupertino-based tech giant's annual event held in September. The XS comes with a larger sibling, the iPhone XS Max. The company also announced the iPhone XR, a cheaper alternative that replaces the expensive OLED screen with LCD technology. The iPhone XS price in India has been set at Rs. 99,900 for the 64GB variant, while its 256GB option comes at Rs. 1,14,900 and the 512GB model is available at Rs. 1,34,900. The iPhone XS Max, on the other hand, comes with a price tag of Rs. 1,09,900 for the 64GB storage variant, while its 256GB variant is available at Rs. 1,24,900 and 512GB variant at Rs. 1,44,900.
SEPTEMBERApple released the iPhone XS, a faster version of its flagship X, at the Cupertino-based tech giant's annual event held in September. The XS comes with a larger sibling, the iPhone XS Max. T..
Read More
OCTOBER
Google unveiled the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, the latest flagship offerings from the company. The Pixel 3 and 3 XL both feature larger screens than last year’s models thanks to slimmed down bezels — and the controversial notch in the case of the bigger phone. The prices in India are Rs. 71,000 for Pixel 3 64GB, Rs. 80,000 for Pixel 3 128GB, for Rs. 83,000 Pixel 3 XL 64GB variant, and Rs. 92,000 for Pixel 3 XL 128GB.
OCTOBERGoogle unveiled the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, the latest flagship offerings from the company. The Pixel 3 and 3 XL both feature larger screens than last year’s models thanks to slimmed down beze..
Read More
The phone comes with a 6.40-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1440 pixels by 3120 pixels. The LG V40 ThinQ is powered by octa-core processor. The LG V40 ThinQ is powered by a 3300mAh. As far as the cameras are concerned, the LG V40 ThinQ packs a 12-megapixel (f/1.5, 1.4-micron) primary camera and a 16-megapixel (f/1.9, 1.0-micron) secondary camera on the rear. On the front, it packs an 8-megapixel (f/1.9, 1.4-micron) primary camera and a 5-megapixel (f/2.2, 1.4-micron) secondary camera.
The phone comes with a 6.40-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1440 pixels by 3120 pixels. The LG V40 ThinQ is powered by octa-core processor. The LG V40 ThinQ is powered by a 3300mAh. As ..
“It used to be that chip demand was completely dependent on product cycles for personal computers,” Okabayashi said. “But then came smartphones and pretty soon we’ll be able to add AI, IOT and 5G to the list of applications driving demand.”
It will take a while for the impact from new orders to show up in earnings, because EUV blank testers take about two years to build. Lasertec is forecasting that sales will climb 32 percent to 28 billion yen in the year to June 30, while operating income will grow 14 percent. Revenue may jump about 50 percent next fiscal year and profit could double, according to analyst estimates.
The company’s shares have climbed 55 percent this year, approaching the 4,590 yen record high set in March 2018. Of the eight analysts tracked by Bloomberg, six recommend buying the shares.
“Earnings have a lot of room to grow because we haven’t even seen the spending on 5 nanometer process yet,” said Yasuo Imanaka, an analyst at Rakuten Securities Inc. “This is a very good company.”
