Wafer fabrication equipment is equipment that is used in the process of semiconductor fabrication to process raw semiconductor wafers into finished chips, such as integrated circuits.
[1] Wafer fabrication equipment is meant to be installed in cleanrooms.
Referred to respectively as the wafer fab equipment [2] or wafer front end [3] (equipment) market, both using the acronym WFE, the market is that of the manufacturers of the machines which in turn manufacture semiconductors.
The apexresearch link in 2020 identified Applied Materials, ASML, KLA-Tencor, Lam Research, TEL and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing as market participants[2] while the 2019 electronicsweekly.com report, citing The Information Network's president Robert Castellano, focused on the respective market shares commanded by the two leaders, Applied Materials and ASML.
[3]