On the evening of April 17, China Micro Corporation (688012) released its 2024 annual report. According to the report, with core technology breakthroughs, high-intensity investment in R&D and optimization of operational efficiency, AMEC will achieve operating income of about 9.065 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year increase of about 44.73%, and maintain an average annual growth rate of more than 40% in the past four years. The net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was about 1.388 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 16.52%.

From the perspective of the industry, in recent years, with the further acceleration of the development of digital technology-related industries such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data, and autonomous driving, semiconductor micro-manufacturing equipment, as the cornerstone of the digital industry, has developed rapidly. According to the International Semiconductor Industry Association (SEMI), the global semiconductor equipment market will increase from US$57.6 billion in 2019 to US$106.3 billion in 2023, with an average annual compound growth rate of 16.55%. In 2024, the global semiconductor equipment market will be 117.1 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 10.16%; Among them, the semiconductor equipment market in Chinese mainland reached 49.6 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 35%, accounting for 44% of the global total.

According to the disclosure, in 2024, the operating income of AMEC will exceed 9 billion yuan, an increase of 2.802 billion yuan over 2023, maintaining an average annual compound growth rate of more than 35% in the past 13 years, and the average annual growth rate in the past four years has increased to more than 40%. Among them, etching equipment as the core business performance is particularly eye-catching, with an annual revenue of about 7.277 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 54.73%, and an average annual growth rate of more than 50% in the past four years, leading the market. At present, AMEC's CCP (Capacitively Coupled Plasma) high-energy plasma etching equipment and ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) low-energy plasma etching equipment have covered more than 95% of the domestic etching application needs, and have achieved large-scale mass production in the international leading production lines with 5nm and more advanced processes.

Among them, the Primo Twin-Star®, an ICP dual-machine independently developed by AMEC, has an etching accuracy of 0.2 angstroms (0.02 nanometers) per minute, which is equivalent to one-tenth of the diameter of a silicon atom. The equipment excels in the etching process of materials such as silicon oxide and silicon nitride, and in the repeatability test of 200 silicon wafers, the average etching speed difference of 100 wafers on each of the two reactors on the left and right reactors is less than 1.5 angstroms per minute. The difference in average etch speed between two reactors is much smaller than the difference in etch speed between multiple wafers processed by one reactor. At the same time, the company's CCP twin machines have been mass-produced on nearly 600 reactors on the world's most advanced logic production lines, and a considerable number of machines have been used for mass production on 5nm and more advanced production lines.

"If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools." In terms of R&D, in 2024, the company's R&D investment will reach 2.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 94.3%, accounting for about 27% of operating income. Intensive R&D investment has led to a significant increase in product iteration – what used to take 3 to 5 years to develop a new device can now be completed in 2 years or less.

According to the annual report, at present, AMEC's research projects cover six categories and more than 20 new equipment, including a new generation of CCP high-energy plasma etching equipment, ICP low-energy plasma etching equipment, wafer edge etching equipment, LPCVD (low-pressure chemical vapor deposition) and ALD (atomic layer deposition) thin film equipment, silicon and germanium-silicon epitaxial EPI equipment, a new generation of plasma source PECVD equipment and electron beam detection equipment, etc.

In the field of pan-semiconductors, AMEC's MOCVD (Organic Metal Chemical Vapor Deposition) equipment continues to lead the global market, accounting for more than 80% of the share of gallium nitride-based LED lighting equipment, and accelerating the expansion of emerging fields such as silicon carbide power devices and Micro-LED.

AMEC said that the current global semiconductor industry is ushering in a new round of development opportunities. The popularization of technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and autonomous driving has promoted the evolution of chip manufacturing to more advanced processes, and the demand for core equipment such as etching and thin film deposition continues to rise. According to SEMI's forecast, the global semiconductor equipment market will reach $127.5 billion in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 16%, and Chinese mainland is still the largest market. The company will take advantage of this development trend, adhere to the three-dimensional development strategy and the five top ten corporate culture, seize market opportunities, expand market share and continue to innovate.