We enter 2024 following one of the most eventful years yet for ACM Research. This recap of our key milestones from 2023 helps illustrate why we are looking to the year ahead with great enthusiasm, as well as why we are positioned to play a leading role in the chip sector as it heads toward becoming a trillion-dollar industry by 2030.
Overall last year, our orders increased by nearly 40%. The examples summarized below exemplify the global range of our customer base.
- We received the first order for an Ultra C SAPS™-V single-wafer cleaning tool – our largest SAPS system, featuring 12 chambers – from a major European customer, which took delivery of the new SAPS-V system in Q4.
- Later in the year, a leading U.S. semiconductor provider ordered our Ultra C b backside clean and bevel etch tool, widely deployed for wafer manufacturing, wafer-level packaging, and power devices. We expect to ship the system in Q2 2024.
- A Chinese maker of silicon carbide (SiC) substrates placed the first order for our Ultra C SiC substrate cleaning tool, which we delivered in September. Interest in this system is on the rise as SiC becomes increasingly ubiquitous for power ICs, data centers, electric vehicles, and other power-centric applications.
While continuing to build and support our existing products, we added another significant new offering to our portfolio – one that addresses the booming advanced packaging segment. Our Ultra C v Vacuum Cleaning Tool targets chiplets and other 3D packaging structures by meeting their stringent requirements for post-reflow flux removal. We have already received initial orders for the Ultra C v in line with the heightened focus on advanced packaging as a vital component of next-generation chip manufacturing.
The increase in orders and product development brings with it a need for added global capabilities at every level, with a corresponding increase in headcount. In 2023, we opened our newest U.S. location, in Hillsboro, Oregon. The 11,000-square-foot facility, strategically located near key North American customers, will serve as a core sales and service hub. We’ll be building out the site this year to add a state-of-the-art demo lab, materials warehousing, and office space for sales, marketing and support staff.
Our largest expansion, set for completion early this year, will raise the bar significantly on our manufacturing operations. We began construction in 2020 on our new development and production facility in Shanghai. When we open the 1-million-square-foot facility in Q2, it will more than triple our current manufacturing capacity, increase cleanroom space by 10x, and expand our demo space by 5x, enabling us to serve more customers with greater efficiency and significantly reduced lead times.
After an extensive search, we acquired land in South Korea in early 2023. We are building a new, larger manufacturing facility to support our customer base in the region. We plan to break ground this year and open the new facility in the second half of 2025. Once at full capacity, a facility’s manufacturing capability could reach up to 200 tools per year.
The new Korea facility will be located close to major semiconductor makers whose qualification of our systems will allow us to reach broader global markets. A key differentiator for ACM will be our team’s ability to go beyond simple assembly, adapting the design and manufacture of the equipment from the laboratory through the introduction of advanced technology. This will ensure our ability to provide equipment that can accommodate the manufacturing requirements of chipmakers producing the most advanced devices.
In concert with these developments, as noted, we plan to increase our workforce accordingly, allowing us to further strengthen our ties to and investment in the communities where we have established manufacturing and operations sites. Added hires will expand our headcount by up to 30%, in all roles from engineering and production management to sales, marketing, customer service and support.
The bottom line is that the future is bright for ACM. ACM projects revenue for full-year 2024 in the range of $650 million to $725 million, with the long-range expectation that our sales will triple to 1.5 billion by 2030. For our customers, this means that we will be even better equipped to collaborate with you on your advanced needs for IC and compound semiconductor manufacturing, as well as wafer-level packaging solutions.