China Business Intelligence Network News: Sputtering target refers to the sputtering source that is sputtered and deposited on the substrate under appropriate process conditions through magnetron sputtering and other coating systems to form various functional films. Sputtering targets are widely used in semiconductor integrated circuits, flat displays, solar cells, information storage, low-emissivity glass and other fields, and are key industries supported and encouraged by the state.
1. Overview of the sputtering target industry
1. Definition of sputtering target
The sputtering target is mainly composed of a target blank and a backplate. The target blank is the core part of the target material, which is the target material bombarded by the high-kinetic ion beam in the sputtering coating process, and the atoms on the surface of the target blank are sputtered out and deposited on the surface of the substrate to form a thin film after the target blank is hit by ions. The backplate is mainly used to fix and support the target blank material, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, generally made of metal materials, because the sputtering target needs to be installed in the special sputtering coating equipment to complete the sputtering process, the equipment is a high-voltage, high-vacuum working environment, most of the target blank material is soft, brittle, poor electrical and thermal conductivity, etc., not suitable for direct installation in the equipment for use, so it needs to be bound with the backplane.
2. Classification of sputtering targets
The sputtering target must be equipped with special sputtering coating equipment before sputtering coating. Sputtering targets can be divided into planar targets and rotating targets according to their shapes. According to whether it is necessary to bind the backplate or backpipe, it can be divided into an integrated target and a binding target.
Source: Compiled by China Business Industry Research Institute
3. Application field of sputtering target
As a key material for the industrial preparation of various thin films, sputtering targets are widely used in semiconductor integrated circuits, flat displays, solar cells, information storage, low-emissivity glass and other fields.
Source: Compiled by China Business Industry Research Institute
4. The development history of China's sputtering target industry
(1) Embryonic period
Compared with foreign countries, the mainland sputtering target industry started late. In the 90s of the 20th century, in order to develop thin film technology and thin film materials, the State Planning Commission, the State Science and Technology Commission, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and relevant local government departments issued a series of policies to support the development of coating and related materials, and accumulated a certain technical foundation in vacuum coating, low temperature, pressure vessels, etc., creating a good R&D foundation and industrialization conditions for the development of local sputtering target enterprises. Limited by factors such as the technology downstream application market is still in its infancy, the early development of the mainland sputtering target industry is relatively slow, and there are few enterprises with large-scale production capacity and strong R&D strength, and sputtering targets are mainly used in low-end products.
(2) Rapid development period
In the 21st century, the macro economy of the mainland has entered a period of rapid development, the consumer electronics market such as TV, computer, mobile phone has developed rapidly, and the market scale of related terminal application fields has been expanding, thus promoting the rapid development of local sputtering target enterprises and domestic sputtering target market in the mainland. After years of development, domestic sputtering target enterprises have made great progress and progress, domestic high-purity, high-performance sputtering target enterprises through continuous independent research and development of gradual breakthrough in key technologies, and continue to expand the scale of manufacturing, in technology development, product performance, production scale, product quality, market brand and other aspects of the market competitiveness is steadily improving, breaking the sputtering target industry has long been monopolized by large overseas manufacturers of the unfavorable situation.
(3) Stable development stage
In recent years, with the rapid development of the domestic flat display and semiconductor integrated circuit industry, the downstream industry has gradually shifted to China, which has led to the rapid development of the domestic sputtering target industry, and the mainland sputtering target industry has gradually changed from a single scale growth to a structural growth of import substitution. A number of local target companies with strong market competitiveness, represented by Jiangfeng Electronics, Acetron, Youyan New Materials, Longhua Technology, Pilot Film, Yingri Technology and the company, have successfully entered the supply chain of well-known domestic and foreign downstream enterprises such as flat display and semiconductor integrated circuits, formed import substitution for the domestic market share of foreign manufacturers, and realized part of the export, ensuring the independent controllability and supply security of key raw materials in the upstream of key domestic industries.
Second, the market status of foreign sputtering target industry
1. Global sputtering target market size
According to the data of China Commercial Industry Research Institute, from 2016 to 2023, the global sputtering target market size will increase from US$11.3 billion to US$25.8 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.52%. In the future, with the development of new infrastructure and new application fields such as the Internet of Things, big data, new displays, solar cells, energy-saving glass, etc., the terminal application fields of sputtering targets will be further expanded, and the global sputtering target market will continue to grow steadily.
Data source: China Commercial Industry Research Institute
2. The competitive landscape of the global sputtering target industry
With the first-mover advantage in patented technology, as well as strong technical force, fine production control and excellent product quality, large sputtering target manufacturers in developed countries or regions such as the United States, Japan, and Europe occupy a high market share in the global sputtering target market. Large multinational enterprises represented by JX Metal, Honeywell, Tocao, and Praxair were established earlier, with a long history and mature development, including the whole industry chain links such as metal purification, target manufacturing, sputtering coating and terminal applications. With first-mover advantage and technology research and development advantage, related enterprises lead the development direction and technological innovation of the industry, and have obvious advantages in the field of sputtering targets, which currently occupy a total of about 80% of the global market share. In addition, multinational companies such as Mitsui Metals, Sumitomo Chemical, ULVAC, Shitaike and Plansee are in a leading position in the market in their respective advantageous target fields.
Data source: China Commercial Industry Research Institute
3. Analysis of the development environment of China's sputtering target industry
(1) Policy guidance to promote the development of the industry
The high-performance sputtering target industry is an industry that the state focuses on supporting and encouraging the development of, and the national industrial policy has a positive role in promoting the development of the industry. At present, the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other government departments have given the whole industry chain and all-round guidance to the high-performance sputtering target industry through various documents at multiple levels, angles and fields, and have successively issued the "Guiding Opinions on Expanding Investment in Strategic Emerging Industries and Cultivating and Strengthening New Growth Points", "The 14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Raw Materials Industry", "Implementation Opinions on Improving the Reliability of Manufacturing Industry", and "Action Plan for Stable Growth of Electronic Information Manufacturing Industry in 2023-2024" and a number of industrial policies to support the development of the high-performance sputtering target industry in mainland China, providing strong support and a good environment for the operation and development of enterprises in the industry.
In order to promote the development of the sputtering target industry, enhance the industrial innovation ability and international competitiveness, drive the transformation of traditional industries and product upgrading, and further promote the sustained, rapid and healthy development of the national economy, the mainland has launched a series of policies to support and encourage the development of the sputtering target industry in recent years, creating a good policy environment for the development of the sputtering target industry, and the main policies are as follows:
(2) Demand-driven broadening of application fields
The development of the high-performance sputtering target industry is closely related to the market demand and technological innovation of emerging industries such as downstream flat display, semiconductor integrated circuits, new energy batteries, and photovoltaics. With the continuous expansion of end-user demand and the vigorous development of high-performance thin film materials and magnetron sputtering technology, sputtering targets are developing rapidly in the direction of high purity, large size, high density, high sputtering rate and high utilization rate, and the comprehensive performance will continue to improve, further expanding to new downstream applications such as composite copper foil, BIPV, aerospace materials, etc.
(3) Technological innovation empowers industry reform
With the rapid development of 5G, semiconductor integrated circuits, Internet, artificial intelligence and other industries, human society has entered the era of "10,000 screens interconnection" and "all things display" from the "Internet of Everything", and new displays have become one of the most vigorous industrial directions in the field of innovation. In recent years, major breakthroughs have been made in related disciplines such as electronic optics, materials science, and mechanics, and new display technologies such as OLED, MiniLED, and MicroLED have been developing in a competitive manner, and 8K ultra-high definition, 3D display, flexible display, transparent display and other technical fields have made significant progress, which is subverting the traditional display terminal application form.
Fourth, the development status of China's sputtering target industry
1. The market size of China's sputtering target industry
From 2018 to 2022, the market size of China's sputtering target industry increased from 24.3 billion yuan to 39.5 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.91% in the past five years. In the future, with the transfer of display panel production capacity, the acceleration of the localization process of semiconductors and the rising prosperity of the solar cell market, the demand for high-performance sputtering targets in the downstream market will continue to increase. The mainland sputtering target market has broad prospects, and the market size is expected to grow to 47.6 billion yuan in 2024.
2. Analysis of the upstream, midstream and downstream of China's sputtering target industry chain
The sputtering target industry chain mainly includes metal purification, target manufacturing, sputtering coating and terminal application. Among them, target manufacturing is a key link in the sputtering target industry chain, and the product quality and performance indicators of sputtering targets directly determine the quality and stability of the end product.
In the sputtering target industry chain, the upstream metal purification link is mainly to purify the metals containing impurities in nature, so as to meet the production needs of the target manufacturing process; The target manufacturing process requires a variety of delicate processes, and at the same time, it is necessary to carry out unique process design according to the performance and requirements of downstream application fields. The sputtering coating link is mainly to install the sputtering target in a special sputtering coating equipment to complete the sputtering reaction, prepare a film layer with the characteristics of conductivity, insulation, light conduction, piezoelectricity, magnetism, lubrication, superconductivity, wear resistance, decoration, etc., and encapsulate the components; The end-use application is the production of end-user-facing products from packaged components.
3. Analysis of the subdivisions of China's sputtering target industry
The downstream application fields of sputtering targets are wide, including strategic emerging industries such as flat display, semiconductor integrated circuits, new energy batteries and solar cells, as well as more traditional glass coatings, decorative coatings, tool coatings and other industries, among which flat display is the largest and highest proportion of the market in the downstream application fields, followed by information storage, solar cells and semiconductor integrated circuits. The development of the sputtering target market in various application segments is as follows:
(1) The development of the sputtering target market for flat display
The flat display industry chain is mainly composed of upstream equipment manufacturing, raw materials and components industry, midstream display panels, touch screens and other supporting electronic devices and modules, and downstream TVs, monitors, laptops, tablets, mobile phones and other display terminal applications.
In recent years, the domestic sputtering target market for flat panel display has grown rapidly driven by factors such as the growth of global display panel shipment area, the transfer of flat display industry, and the trend of localization substitution of display panel manufacturers, and the market prospect is promising. According to the data, from 2017 to 2020, the market size of China's sputtering targets for flat display increased from 9.3 billion yuan to 15 billion yuan; From 2021 to 2023, the market size of the sputtering target industry for flat display in mainland China will be 17.7 billion yuan, 20.9 billion yuan and 24.6 billion yuan respectively; In the future, the market size of the sputtering target industry for flat display is expected to continue to grow rapidly, and is expected to reach 39.5 billion yuan in 2026. Combined with empirical data and industry estimates such as the use of various sputtering targets in the production and manufacturing of display panels, the development trend of copper process technology in display panels, copper targets for flat displays account for about 20% of the market size of sputtering targets for flat displays, and according to this estimate, the market size of copper targets for flat displays in mainland China will be about 4.92 billion yuan in 2023.
(2) The development of the sputtering target market for semiconductor integrated circuits
The semiconductor integrated circuit industry chain mainly includes chip design, product round manufacturing, packaging and testing, semiconductor materials, semiconductor equipment, EDA tools and IP licensing. In the field of semiconductor integrated circuits, sputtering targets are mainly used in wafer manufacturing and chip packaging.
According to statistics, sputtering targets account for nearly 3% of the global semiconductor manufacturing materials and packaging and testing materials market. With the rapid development of the semiconductor industry, China's sputtering target market for semiconductor integrated circuits will maintain a rapid growth trend. From 2017 to 2023, the market size of sputtering targets for semiconductor integrated circuits in China will increase from 1.4 billion yuan to 2.3 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.63%. In the future, the overall market size of the sputtering target industry for semiconductor integrated circuits will maintain stable growth, and it is expected to reach 3.3 billion yuan in 2026.
(3) The development of the sputtering target market for new energy batteries
New energy batteries are in the middle of the new energy industry chain and are the core link of the new energy industry chain. Taking lithium-ion batteries as an example, their upstream materials are cathode materials, anode materials, copper foil, aluminum foil, separator and electrolyte, which together constitute battery cells, and form lithium-ion battery packs with battery management systems and accessories through packing, which are finally used in new energy vehicles, 3C digital products, energy storage applications and electric bicycles.
According to the forecast, if only the application of electrolytic copper foil in lithium-ion batteries is considered, the demand for electrolytic copper foil is expected to reach 1.067 million tons in 2025, assuming that the penetration rate of composite copper foil in the field of lithium-ion batteries will reach 20% in 2025, and the global composite copper foil market space will reach 29 billion yuan in 2025.
(4) The development of the sputtering target market for solar cells
The photovoltaic industry chain is divided into five links: silicon materials, silicon wafers, solar cells, modules, and photovoltaic power generation systems, among which solar cells can directly convert light energy into electrical energy through the photoelectric effect, which is the core link of the photovoltaic industry chain.
As an important part of renewable energy, solar energy is the main trend of future energy development in the mainland. With the continuous increase of the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaics, the scale of China's sputtering target market for solar cells is also expected to continue to grow rapidly. According to the statistics of the China Commercial Industry Research Institute, from 2017 to 2023, the market size of China's sputtering targets for solar cells will increase from 1.8 billion yuan to 5.2 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 19.34%; In the future, the market size of the sputtering target industry for solar cells will enter a stage of rapid growth, and it is expected to reach 8.3 billion yuan in 2026.
(5) Other fields
Glass coating
The sputtering target is mainly used in the field of glass coating to prepare low-emissivity glass, and the film system composed of multiple layers of metal or other compounds is plated on the glass surface to achieve the role of energy saving, light control and decoration, which is mainly used in architecture, room decoration, automobiles, mirrors and other fields, among which the construction field has the largest application.
According to statistics, the energy consumption of building glass doors and windows accounts for 23% of the total energy consumption of buildings, which is one of the key directions of building energy conservation, and the penetration rate of domestic low-e glass in 2020 is 12%, and the penetration rate of developed countries such as Germany and South Korea is higher than 90%, and the penetration rate of domestic low-e glass in the field of construction is expected to continue to increase in the future. In recent years, with the continuous improvement of policy support and the demand for energy conservation and environmental protection, almost all large-scale glass deep processing enterprises are rapidly increasing the production line of low-emissivity glass, which has driven the rapid development of upstream key raw materials such as sputtering targets.
Decorative coatings
In the field of decorative coating, sputtering targets are mainly used to prepare the surface coating layer of mobile phones, watches, glasses and other products, which not only plays a role in beautifying colors, but also has the functions of wear resistance and corrosion resistance, and its effect directly affects the experience and satisfaction of end consumers.
In the downstream application field of decorative coatings, consumer electronics such as smart phones are the industry with the fastest update iteration cycle, and the competition of terminal manufacturers' products has changed from the original function upgrade competition to performance, aesthetics, experience and other aspects of competition, and manufacturers usually apply the most advanced surface treatment technology to consumer electronic products. With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, vacuum sputtering coating has gradually become one of the commonly used surface treatment methods, and the vacuum sputtering coating method is used in plastics, glass, ceramics, and stainless steel middle frames, and the demand for sputtering targets for decorative coating is also expanding.
Tool coating
In the field of tool coating, sputtering targets are mainly used to prepare the surface coating of tools, which acts as a chemical barrier and thermal barrier, which can effectively reduce the wear of the tool matrix material during production and processing, thereby significantly improving the service life of the tool and the quality of the processed parts.
At present, the global tool coating market is mainly concentrated in developed countries such as Europe, America and Japan, and the proportion of coating for machining tools in developed countries has exceeded 90%. In the domestic market, with the gradual transformation of the production concept of the domestic manufacturing industry from "relying on cheap labor" to "improving processing methods and improving efficiency", as well as the transformation and upgrading of numerical control in the machine tool market, the coating proportion of tools and other tools in the mainland is also increasing, and the demand for sputtering targets for tool coating is expected to continue to increase.
5. Analysis of key sputtering target enterprises in China
With the rapid development of the domestic display and semiconductor integrated circuit industry, the downstream industry has gradually shifted to the country, which has led to the rapid development of the domestic sputtering target industry, and the mainland sputtering target industry has gradually changed from a single scale growth to a structural growth of import substitution. It has formed import substitution for the domestic market share of foreign manufacturers, and realized part of the export, ensuring the independent controllability and supply security of key raw materials in the upstream of key domestic industries.
1. Jiangfeng Electronics
Jiangfeng Electronics was established in 2005 and registered in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, and was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2017. Jiangfeng Electronics is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of ultra-high purity metal sputtering targets and semiconductor precision parts. The products are mainly used in VLSI chips, flat panel displays, solar cells and other fields.
According to Jiangfeng Electronics' 2023 annual report, Jiangfeng Electronics will achieve operating income of 2.602 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 11.89%; The net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 255 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.35%. Among them, the operating income of the ultra-high purity target business segment was 1.673 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.79%.
2. Ashtron
Founded in 2002 and registered in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, Acetron was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2017. ACETRON is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of various PVD coating materials, including sputtering targets and evaporation materials. The products are mainly used in flat panel display, optical optical communication, energy-saving glass and other fields.
According to the 2023 annual report of Acetron, Acetron will achieve operating income of 958 million yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 12.27 million yuan in 2023, of which the operating income of the sputtering target business segment will be 521 million yuan.
3. Longhua Technology
Longhua Technology was established in 1995 and registered in Luoyang City, Henan Province, and was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2011. Longhua Technology's business types include new electronic materials, polymer composite materials and energy conservation and environmental protection business, and its products are mainly used in maglev trains, aerospace, petroleum, chemical industry, industrial water treatment, municipal water treatment, urban mine resource disposal, sewage treatment, mineral flotation and other fields.
According to the 2023 annual report of Longhua Technology, Longhua Technology will achieve operating income of 2.467 billion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 127 million yuan in 2023, of which the operating income of the electronic new materials business segment will be 473 million yuan.
4. There are new materials to be researched
Founded in 1999, GRAN New Materials is a joint stock limited company exclusively initiated by Beijing General Research Institute of Nonferrous Metals and established by way of fundraising, which was established in March 1999 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It is mainly engaged in the R&D and production of new materials such as rare earth materials, thin film materials for micro-optoelectronics, biomedical materials, rare metals and precious metals, infrared optics and optoelectronic materials, and is a backbone enterprise in the new non-ferrous metal materials industry in mainland China.
According to the 2023 annual report of GRAN New Materials, GRAN New Materials will achieve operating income of 10.822 billion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 226 million yuan in 2023.
5. Ole New Materials
Founded in 2010 and registered in Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province, Ole New Materials will be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2024. The main business of Ola New Materials is the R&D, production and sales of high-performance sputtering targets, the main products include copper targets, aluminum targets, molybdenum and molybdenum alloy targets and ITO targets of various sizes and forms, which can be widely used in semiconductor displays, touch screens, architectural glass, decorative coatings, integrated circuit packaging, new energy batteries and solar cells and other fields, and are the key materials for the industrial preparation of various thin films.
According to the 2023 annual report of Ole New Materials, Ole New Materials will achieve operating income of 476 million yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 49 million yuan in 2023.
Sixth, there are problems in the development of China's sputtering target industry
1. Material dependence on imports hinders stable development
As a key material for the industrial preparation of various thin films, the performance of sputtering targets directly determines the performance, quality and life of the final product, and downstream applications such as semiconductor integrated circuits, flat displays, and solar cells have extremely high requirements for the purity of sputtering targets. At present, most of the high-purity metal materials required for the manufacture of high-performance sputtering targets rely on imports, and only a few internationally renowned high-purity metal material manufacturers can meet the requirements of purity, quality and stability of sputtering targets. Under the influence of factors such as the intensification of international trade frictions and the recurrence of the global new crown epidemic, the current situation of mainland high-purity metal materials mainly relying on imports will not be conducive to the healthy and stable development of the sputtering target industry.
2. The shortage of technical talents restricts innovation and development
The high-performance sputtering target industry is a capital- and technology-intensive industry, with strong professionalism and high technical requirements, and the core technology breakthrough and production process innovation depend on a stable technical team and top technical talents, and have high requirements for the professionalism, innovation and experience of technical R&D personnel. Due to the short development time of the sputtering target industry in China, the low technical level, and the long talent training cycle, high-end, professional and compound talents are still in short supply. With the rapid development of downstream application fields and the continuous expansion of market demand, the requirements for R&D and innovation capabilities of enterprises are constantly improving, and the lack of high-tech compound talents will pose a certain challenge to the sustainable development of the industry.
7. Forecast and analysis of the market prospect of China's sputtering target industry
1. The national industrial policy strongly supports and promotes the sustained and rapid development of the industry
Since 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance have issued the "Guidelines for the Development of New Materials Industry", which clearly proposes to develop a new generation of materials for the information technology industry and solve the constraints of very large-scale integrated circuit materials. Accelerate the optimization of the mass production process of new materials, and realize mass production applications in new displays and other fields. Since then, the high-performance sputtering target has been included in a number of industrial policy documents such as the "Guidance Catalogue for the First Batch of Application Demonstration of Key New Materials", the "Guiding Catalogue for the First Batch of Application Demonstration of Key New Materials", and the "14th Five-Year Plan" for the Development of Raw Material Industry.
The national industrial policy attaches great importance to and strongly supports the high-performance sputtering target industry, which creates a good policy environment for the development of the industry, which is conducive to the sustained and rapid development of the industry, accelerates breakthroughs in key technology fields, and helps the development of strategic emerging industries in mainland China.
2. The popularization of new display technology and the expansion of terminal application scenarios promote the continuous development of the industry
With the rapid development of 5G, semiconductor integrated circuits, Internet, and artificial intelligence industries, new displays have become one of the most vigorous industrial directions in the field of innovation. In recent years, 8K ultra-high definition, 3D display, flexible display, transparent display and other technical fields have made significant progress, which is subverting the traditional display terminal application form. In the field of large-size semiconductor displays, the increase in the content transmission speed of 5G networks will promote the vigorous development of 8K smart devices. The application scenarios of commercial display and smart home will also be greatly expanded, and the technology upgrade of more applications and equipment will be generated by smart transportation, smart medical care, and smart new retail.
With the continuous growth of the terminal market scale and the continuous breakthrough of new processes and technologies, the application scenarios and application scope of sputtering targets in the downstream terminal are expected to be further expanded, and the industry has great potential for growth and development.
3. The rapid development of the emerging downstream application market broadens the industry market space
With the continuous research and innovation of upstream and downstream enterprises, the technical level of the industry continues to improve, the industrialization process of new technologies is accelerating, and the product application range of sputtering targets is expanding, from decorative coatings, tool coatings, glass coatings to information storage, flat displays, semiconductor integrated circuits, solar cells and other emerging industries, the market demand is growing steadily and the development prospects are broad. Based on the advantages of magnetron sputtering vacuum coating process, such as good stability, good uniformity, dense film layer and good adhesion, the sputtering target will be further expanded to emerging downstream applications such as composite copper foil, BPV, and aerospace materials.
In the future, with the rapid development of emerging downstream application markets such as new energy batteries, solar photovoltaics, and aerospace, benefiting from the good characteristics of magnetron sputtering vacuum coating, the downstream application scenarios of high-performance sputtering targets will be more diversified, providing a broad market space for the sustainable development and progress of the sputtering target industry.
For more information, please refer to the "Research Report on Market Prospects and Investment Opportunities of China's Sputtering Target Industry" released by China Commercial Industry Research Institute, and China Commercial Industry Research Institute also provides industrial big data, industrial intelligence, industrial reports, industry white papers, feasibility study reports, investigation and evaluation, industrial planning, park planning, industrial chain investment map, industrial investment guidelines, project packaging planning, industrial investment promotion & promotion meetings and other consulting services.