The global supply of photomasks with mature processes of 28nm and above continues to be tight, with higher prices and longer delivery times.

According to SEMI data, the overall size of the photomask market has grown from $4.4 billion in 2020 to $5 billion in 2021, and is expected to reach $5.2 billion this year.

The major independent reticle maker, Toppan, estimates that manufacturers in this segment will need to spend $1-2 billion over the next decade to upgrade their production equipment, which is a huge challenge for third-party reticle manufacturers that are independent of foundries. It is especially difficult for suppliers, because the profit margin of the mature process masks sold mainly has been low for a long time, and these manufacturers have insufficient capital expenditure capacity. At the same time, their upstream equipment suppliers have further aggravated the difficulty of equipment update due to product line updates and even corporate bankruptcy and reorganization. .

Toppan estimates that, taking the 65nm node as an example, a new photomask production line is expected to require an investment of US$65 million. The huge depreciation cost may be upside down with the current mask market price, and the long-term rate of return is not enough to motivate manufacturers to invest.