Applied Materials

History[edit]

Founded in 1967 by Michael A. McNeilly and others, Applied Materials went public in 1972. In subsequent years, the company diversified, until James C. Morgan became CEO in 1976 and returned the company's focus to its core business of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.^[5][6] By 1978, sales increased by 17%.^[7]


In 1984, Applied Materials became the first U.S. semiconductor equipment manufacturer to open its own technology center in Japan^[8] and the first semiconductor equipment company to operate a service center in China.^[9] In 1987, Applied introduced a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) machine called the Precision 5000, which differed from existing machines by incorporating diverse processes into a single machine that had multiple process chambers.^[10]


In 1992, the corporation settled a lawsuit with three former employees for an estimated $600,000. The suit complained that the employees were driven out of the company after complaining about the courses Applied Scholastics had been hired to teach there.^[11]


In 1993, the Applied Materials' Precision 5000 was inducted into the Smithsonian Institution's permanent collection of Information Age technology.^[10]


In November 1996, Applied Materials acquired two Israeli companies for an aggregate amount of $285 million: Opal Technologies and Orbot Instruments for $175 million and $110 million in cash, respectively. Orbot produces systems for inspecting patterned silicon wafers for yield enhancement during the semiconductor manufacturing process, as well as systems for inspecting masks used during the patterning process. Opal develops and manufactures high-speed metrology systems used by semiconductor manufacturers to verify critical dimensions during the production of integrated circuits.^[12]


In 2000, Etec Systems, Inc. was purchased.^[13] The following year, on June 27, 2001, Applied Materials acquired Israeli company Oramir Semiconductor Equipment Ltd., a supplier of laser cleaning technologies for semiconductor wafers, in a purchase business combination for $21 million in cash.^[14]


In January 2008, Applied Materials purchased Baccini, an Italian company and designer of tools used in manufacturing solar cells.^[15]


In 2009, Applied Materials opened its Solar Technology Center, the world's largest commercial solar energy research and development facility, in Xi'an, China.^[16]


Applied Materials acquired Semitool Inc. in December 2009,^[17] and announced its acquisition of Varian Semiconductor in May 2011.^[18] Applied Materials then announced a planned merger with Tokyo Electron on September 24, 2013.^[19] If approved by government regulators, the combined company, to be called Eteris,^[20] would be the world's largest supplier of semiconductor processing equipment, with a total market value of $29 billion.^[21] However, on April 27, 2015, Applied Materials announced that its merger with Tokyo Electron has been scrapped due to antitrust concerns and fears of dominating the semiconductor equipment industry.^[22]


In 2015, Applied Materials left the solar wafer sawing and the solar ion implantation businesses.^[23]


Applied Materials was named among FORTUNE World's Most Admired Companies in 2018.^[24]


In 2019, Applied Materials announced its intention to buy semiconductor equipment manufacturer (and former Hitachi group member) Kokusai Electric Corporation from private equity firm KKR for $2.2 billion, but terminated the deal in March 2021 citing delays in getting approval from China's regulator.^[25][26][27]


In November 2023, Applied Materials was reported to be under criminal investigation by the United States Department of Justice for routing equipment to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation via South Korea in violation of US sanctions.^[28]