MKS Instruments, Inc. (‘MKS’) delivers foundational technology solutions to leading edge semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications.
The company applies its broad science and engineering capabilities to create instruments, subsystems, systems, process control solutions, and specialty chemicals technology that improve process performance, optimize productivity, and enable unique innovations for many technology and industrial companies. The compa...
MKS Instruments, Inc. (‘MKS’) delivers foundational technology solutions to leading edge semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications.
The company applies its broad science and engineering capabilities to create instruments, subsystems, systems, process control solutions, and specialty chemicals technology that improve process performance, optimize productivity, and enable unique innovations for many technology and industrial companies. The company’s solutions are critical to addressing the challenges of miniaturization and complexity in advanced device manufacturing by enabling increased power, speed, feature enhancement, and optimized connectivity. The company’s solutions are also essential in addressing ever-increasing performance requirements across a wide array of specialty industrial applications.
Markets and Applications
The company has focused on satisfying the needs of its customers by establishing long-term collaborative relationships. The company has a diverse base of customers across its three end-markets: semiconductor, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial.
The company has developed the following two product strategies that have been instrumental in delivering value to its customers and helping them solve their most complex problems:
The company’s Surround the Wafer offering includes a wide range of products, design and development services, system-level integration, training programs, calibration, service, and repair for its semiconductor customers. This unique combination of products and services enables the company’s customers to solve the challenges of ultra-thin layers, new materials, and complex 3D structures while maintaining quality and productivity levels. The company has cultivated this strategy over the past two decades by adding critical enabling technologies to its portfolio. The Surround the Wafer offering is an update from what the company previously referred to as Surround the Chamber, given its broadened exposure in photonics solutions for lithography, metrology, and inspection, which extends beyond just the vacuum chamber.
The company’s Surround the Workpiece offering includes product design and development, system-level integration, research and development, system, subsystem, and component selection, as well as maintenance, repair, and calibration services in the field of laser-based guidance and control for manufacturing processes. In connection with the Atotech Acquisition, the company introduced an extension of the Surround the Workpiece offering called Optimize the Interconnect, which refers to MKS’ combined laser drilling and chemistry solutions geared towards accelerating innovation and customers’ time-to-market in printed circuit board (PCB) and package substrate manufacturing.
At the company’s core, MKS is a foundational enabler of miniaturization and complexity. First is the impact of a world that continues to be increasingly interconnected, driving the need for smaller, more powerful, and feature-rich advanced electronic devices, which is enabled by semiconductor manufacturing, laser processing, and chemistry solutions. Second is the increasing complexity of technology transitions in semiconductor, PCB, and package substrate manufacturing, which leads to inflections, such as extreme vertical structures and process engineering at the atomic level, as well as increased interconnect density and smaller features. Third is the accelerating need for laser-based precision manufacturing techniques, which are enabled by lasers, photonics, optics, precision motion control, vibration control, and systems solutions.
Semiconductor Market
MKS is a critical solutions provider for semiconductor manufacturing. The company’s products are used in major semiconductor processing steps, such as deposition, etching, cleaning, lithography, metrology, and inspection. The semiconductor industry continually faces new challenges, as products become smaller, more powerful, and highly mobile. Ultra-thin layers, smaller critical dimensions, new materials, 3D structures, and the ongoing need for higher yield and productivity drive the need for tighter process measurement and control, all of which MKS supports. The company characterizes its broad and unique offering as Surround the Wafer to reflect the technology enablement it provides across almost every major process in semiconductor manufacturing today.
The semiconductor market is subject to rapid demand shifts, which are difficult to predict, and the company cannot be certain as to the timing or extent of future demand in the semiconductor capital equipment industry. In addition to these rapid demand shifts, the semiconductor capital equipment industry has recently been subject to significant trade restrictions, especially in key markets, including China, which has impacted its sales. For example, due in part to these demand shifts and trade restrictions, the company’s semiconductor market revenue sequentially increased 1% in 2024. Approximately 42% of the company’s net revenues for 2024 were from sales to its semiconductor market.
Electronics and Packaging Market
MKS is a foundational solutions provider for the electronics and packaging market. The company’s portfolio includes photonics components, laser drilling systems, electronics chemistries, and plating equipment that are critical for the manufacturing of PCBs and package substrates, and critical to wafer level packaging (WLP) applications. Similar to the semiconductor industry, the PCB, package substrate, and WLP industries continue to demand smaller features, greater density, and better performance. In addition, the electronics and packaging market also includes sales of the company’s vacuum and photonics solutions for display manufacturing applications. The company characterizes its complementary offering of laser systems and chemistry solutions as Optimize the Interconnect, to reflect the unique technology enablement it provides at the interconnect level within PCBs, package substrates, and WLPs. Approximately 26% of the company’s net revenues for 2024 were from sales to its electronics and packaging market.
Specialty Industrial Market
MKS’ strategy in the specialty industrial market is to leverage the company’s domain expertise and proprietary technologies across a broad array of applications in industrial, life and health sciences, and research and defense markets.
Industrial
Industrial encompasses a wide range of diverse applications, including chemistries for functional coatings, surface finishing, and wear resistance in the automobile industry, vacuum solutions for synthetic diamond manufacturing, and photonics for solar manufacturing. Other applications include vacuum and photonics solutions for light-emitting diode and laser diode manufacturing.
Life and Health Sciences
The company’s products for life and health sciences are used in a diverse array of applications, including bioimaging, medical instrument sterilization, medical device manufacturing, analytical, diagnostic, and surgical instrumentation, consumable medical supply manufacturing, and pharmaceutical production.
Research and Defense
The company’s products for research and defense are sold to government, university, and industrial laboratories for applications involving research and development in materials science, physical chemistry, photonics, optics, and electronics materials. The company’s products are also sold for monitoring and defense applications, including surveillance, imaging, and infrastructure protection.
Approximately 32% of the company’s net revenues for 2024 were from sales to its specialty industrial market.
International Markets
Starting in the second quarter of 2024, the company changed its basis of reporting geographical net revenues from the location in which the sale originated to the shipped-to location of the end customer. Prior periods have been recast to reflect this change, which was made to better align with how management reviews geographic net revenues.
A significant portion of the company’s net revenues is from sales to customers in international markets. For 2024, international net revenues accounted for approximately 78% of its total net revenues. A significant portion of the company’s international net revenues was from customers in China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Long-lived assets located outside of the United States accounted for approximately 59% of the company’s total long-lived assets in 2024. Long-lived assets include property, plant and equipment, net, right-of-use assets, net, and certain other assets.
Segments, and Product and Service Offerings
The company is divided into three divisions: the Vacuum Solutions Division (VSD), the Photonics Solutions Division (PSD), and the Materials Solutions Division (MSD). The company groups its product offerings by its reportable segments: VSD, PSD, and MSD. Global Service represents the company’s various service offerings across its three divisions.
VSD delivers foundational technology solutions to semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications. VSD products are derived from the company’s core competencies in vacuum technologies, including pressure measurement and control, flow measurement and control, gas and vapor delivery, gas composition analysis, electronic control technology, reactive gas generation and delivery, power generation and delivery, and fiber optic temperature and position sensing. Its products include:
Pressure and Vacuum Control Solutions Products, which consist of direct and indirect pressure measurement.
Materials Delivery Solutions Products, which include flow and valve technologies, as well as integrated pressure measurement and control subsystems, which provide customers with precise control capabilities.
Power Solutions Products, which consist of microwave and radio frequency power delivery systems, radio frequency matching networks, metrology products, and fiber optic temperature and position sensors. The company’s power delivery solutions are used to provide energy to various etching, stripping, and deposition processes.
Plasma and Reactive Gas Products, which consist of remote plasma and ozone generators that create reactive species. A reactive gas is used to facilitate various chemical reactions in the processing of thin films, including the deposition of films, etching and cleaning of films, and surface modifications.
PSD provides a broad range of instruments, components, and subsystems to leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications. PSD products are derived from its core competencies in lasers, photonics, optics, precision motion control, and vibration control. Its products include:
Laser Products, which consist of continuous wave and pulsed nanosecond and ultrafast lasers based on diode, diode-pumped solid-state, and fiber laser technologies.
Photonics Products, which include precision motion control, optical tables and vibration isolation systems, photonic instruments, high-performance optics and optical assemblies, opto-mechanical components, laser and LED measurement products, including laser power and energy meters, and laser beam profilers, as well as complex optical and photonic subsystems.
Laser-based systems for PCB manufacturing, which include flexible interconnect PCB processing systems and high-density interconnect (HDI) solutions for the creation of blind micro-vias necessary for the manufacturing of PCBs (flexible, rigid-flexible, multilayer, HDI) and package substrates.
MSD develops process and manufacturing technologies for advanced surface modification, electroless and electrolytic plating, and surface finishing. Applying a comprehensive systems-and-solutions approach, MSD's portfolio includes chemistry, equipment, and services for innovative and high-technology applications in its electronics and packaging and specialty industrial markets. Its products include:
Advanced chemical processes and production equipment for the manufacturing of PCBs, package substrates, and wafers used in smartphones, computers, other consumer electronics, server and data centers, automotive electronics, and the medical and industrial industries.
Advanced chemical processes and production equipment for decorative and functional surface finishing, which include decorative, corrosion-protective, and wear-resistant coatings for various end markets, such as automotive, construction, energy, household appliance, and heavy machinery.
Advanced chemical processes for paint support applications, including pretreatment, stripping, and overspray treatment for various end markets, such as automotive, construction, aviation, heavy machinery, and household appliance.
Global Service includes:
Installation services and training for many of the company’s products.
On-site services for maintenance and repair of equipment and critical subsystems.
Technical support offices and technology centers located near many of the company’s customers’ facilities.
Repair and calibration services at internal service depots and authorized service providers located worldwide.
Warranties on the company’s products typically range from one to three years, with the majority of the warranties on its products ranging from one to two years. The company typically provides warranties on its repair services for periods ranging from 90 days to up to one year, depending upon the type of repair. The company also offers extended warranties on its products ranging from one to five years.
Customers
The company sells its products and services to thousands of customers worldwide, in a wide range of end markets. Net revenues from the company’s top ten customers accounted for 32% of net revenues for 2024.
Sales and Marketing
The company’s worldwide sales and marketing organizations are critical to its strategy of maintaining close relationships with a wide array of customers across a diverse set of advanced applications, including semiconductor capital equipment manufacturers, semiconductor device manufacturers, PCB and package substrate manufacturers, and customers across a range of specialty industrial applications. The company markets and sells its products and services through its global direct sales organization, an international network of independent distributors and sales representatives, its websites, and product catalogs. The company maintains a marketing staff that identifies customer requirements, assists in product planning and specifications, and focuses on future trends in the markets it serves.
Research and Development
The company’s research and development expenses were $271 million for 2024.
Manufacturing
The company’s manufacturing facilities are located in Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. In addition, the company relies on significant subcontracted operations in Mexico and selected contract manufacturers in Asia.
Competition
In VSD, Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. offers products that compete with its power solutions, plasma and reactive gas, and sensing products. Inficon, Inc. offers products that compete with its pressure and vacuum control solutions products. Hitachi Ltd., Horiba Ltd., Brooks Instrument, and VAT, Inc. offer products that compete with its materials delivery solutions products.
In PSD, Trumpf Group, Lumentum Holdings Inc., IPG Photonics Corporation, EdgeWave GmbH, and Amplitude Systemes SA offer products that compete with the company’s laser products. Coherent Corp., Excelitas Technologies Corp., Jenoptik AG, and Thorlabs, Inc. offer products that compete with its laser and photonics products. Sigma Koki Co., Ltd. and PI miCos GmbH offer products that compete with the company’s photonics products. The company’s laser-based systems for PCB manufacturing primarily compete with laser-based systems provided by Via Mechanics, Ltd., EO Technics Co., Ltd., and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.
In MSD, Element Solutions Inc., DuPont de Nemours, Inc., Uyemura, Dipsol Chemicals Co., Ltd., JCU International, Inc., and Okuno Chemical Industries Co., Ltd. offer products that compete with its chemistry products. Schmid Group, Process Automation International Limited, and Manz AG offer products that compete with its plating equipment products.
Patents and Other Intellectual Property Rights
As of December 31, 2024, the company owned 638 U.S. patents and 2,534 foreign patents that expire at various dates through 2043. As of December 31, 2024, the company had 142 pending U.S. patent applications.
Government Regulations
The company is subject to trade compliance laws in both the United States and other jurisdictions where it operates, including export regulations, such as the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, and the International Traffic in Arms Regulation, administered by the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
The company is subject to various federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations relating to environmental protection, including those governing discharges of pollutants into the air, water, and land, the reporting, generation, use, handling, storage, transportation, treatment, and disposal of hazardous substances, waste, and other materials, and the cleanup of contaminated sites. These environmental regulations include the European Union Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, the Toxic Substances Control Act in the United States, and the Technical Standards on Environmental Risk Assessment and Control of Chemical Substances (2024) and the List of Chemicals under Priority Control in China.
History
MKS Instruments, Inc. was founded in 1961 as a Massachusetts corporation. The company was incorporated in 1961.
