Besi leads hybrid-bonding race, with twenty players chasing

At Besi’s annual investor day, CEO Richard Blickman was unusually candid about the growing competition in hybrid bonding. He normally keeps that kind of information to himself, but this time, he noted that a substantial number of equipment makers have entered the arena. Blickman was even generous enough to credit Japan’s Shibaura as a co-pioneer of hybrid bonding technology. He added that a few Chinese players have also emerged.

Can Besi hold on to its leading position? Blickman said that’s currently the key question in his conversations with investors and analysts. At the recent analyst day in Amsterdam, he asked rhetorically: “Why is everyone suddenly developing a hybrid bonder?” His answer: In the long run, direct copper-to-copper connections will be the dominant way to combine chips. “That prospect explains why so much is being invested in all those – what is it now – twenty hybrid bonders.”