Veeco Instruments Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "Veeco," the "Company" or "we") designs, manufactures, markets and services enabling solutions for customers in the high brightness light emitting diode ("HB LED"), solar, data storage, scientific research, semiconductor, and industrial markets. We have leading technology positions in our three business segments: Light Emitting Diode ("LED") & Solar Process Equipment, Data Storage Process Equipment, and Metrology.
In our LED & Solar segment, we design and manufacture metal organic chemical vapor deposition ("MOCVD") systems that are used to make HB LEDs or solar cells made of III-V compound semiconductors. Also within this segment we sell molecular beam epitaxy ("MBE") systems which are used in various applications including alternative energy (LED and Solar), power devices and in broad scientific research. We also make thermal evaporation sources and a line of web and glass deposition systems used to create copper, indium, gallium, selenide ("CIGS") thin film solar cells.
In our Data Storage segment, we design and manufacture equipment used in the production of thin film magnetic heads ("TFMHs") that read and write data on hard disk drives. Our technologies include equipment for "front and back-end" process steps such as ion beam etch, ion beam deposition, diamond-like carbon, physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and dicing and slicing systems.
In our Metrology segment, we design and manufacture atomic force microscopes ("AFMs"), scanning probe microscopes ("SPMs"), stylus profilers, and fast 3D optical microscopes, used to provide critical surface measurements in research and production environments. This broad line of products is used in universities, research facilities and scientific centers worldwide. In production environments (such as microelectronics and solar), precision manufacturing industries,(such as medical device manufacturing, automotive and aerospace) and other related industries, our metrology instruments enable customers to monitor their products throughout the manufacturing process to improve yields, reduce costs, and improve product quality.
We serve our worldwide customers through our global sales and service organization located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, and Asia Pacific. We have product development and marketing, engineering and manufacturing facilities located in New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
Veeco was organized as a Delaware corporation in 1989.
Our Strategy
Our strategy for growth and improved profitability focuses on the following key activities:
Focusing our efforts on those technologies in which we have a leading market share, providing differentiated technology solutions to address customers' next generation product development roadmaps; Leveraging our research and development spending into end markets that we believe offer high-growth opportunities, such as our LED & Solar segment; Improving our operational efficiency in each segment through better supply chain management, best cost manufacturing and other activities to lower costs and increase profitability, and; Developing strategic relationships with worldwide technology leaders and offering these customers high-quality, differentiated products that support their cost of ownership requirements as well as service and applications support in order to improve their time-to-market on leading edge devices.
Business Overview and Industry Trends
General Introduction: Our thin film deposition, etch, measurement and other technologies are applicable to the creation of a broad range of microelectronic components, including HB LEDs, solar cells, thin film magnetic heads and semiconductor devices. Our customers who manufacture these devices continue to invest in new technology equipment in order to advance their next generation products and deliver more efficient and cost effective technology solutions.
Starting at the end of 2008 and continuing through the beginning of 2009, the global economic downturn, constrained financing environment and a slowdown in capital spending on equipment impacted most of our end markets and customers. The early part of 2009 was extremely challenging for us in light of these industry conditions and we accelerated our restructuring activities, particularly facility consolidation and additional outsourced manufacturing initiatives. By mid-2009 we experienced a rapid improvement in business conditions, due to our exposure to high-growth end markets such as LED & Solar, where we believe we are well placed with market leading technologies that drive our customers' future product development roadmaps.
The following is a review of our three reportable segments and the multi-year technology trends that impact each.
LED & Solar Business Overview and Trends: We are a leading supplier of process equipment solutions used to create HB LEDs and solar cells. We are the only supplier of both MOCVD and MBE systems, the two key epitaxial deposition technologies used for these applications. MOCVD and MBE technologies are used to grow compound semiconductor materials (such as GaAs (gallium arsenide), GaN (gallium nitride), As/P (arsenic phosphide) and InP (indium phosphide)) at the atomic scale. Epitaxy is the critical first step in compound semiconductor wafer fabrication and is considered to be the highest value added process, ultimately determining device functionality and performance.
Strategies Unlimited, an LED industry research organization, forecasts that the market for HB LEDs will grow from $4.2 billion in 2007 to over $14.0 billion in 2013, for a compound annual growth rate ("CAGR") of 32%. We believe that the HB LED market, while cyclical, represents a high-growth opportunity for us due to the expanding applications for HB LEDs, such as backlighting for large screen flat panel TVs (LCD—liquid crystal displays), laptop computers, automotive applications, and general illumination. In 2009 the LED industry experienced significant growth as LEDs penetrated laptop and television backlighting applications. In fact, Strategies Unlimited forecasts that LEDs for these applications will grow 122% from 2009 through 2013. In order to gain market share in light of this growth opportunity, we have introduced several generations of MOCVD tools, most recently our TurboDisc® K-Series™ MOCVD systems. By introducing new systems, we are focused on delivering better uniformity and repeatability, which helps our customers to make HB LEDs of consistent quality. We also intend to continue to invest heavily in research and development in order to deliver more advanced MOCVD solutions to our customers.
A related application for us is in the solar market, since the same MOCVD tool that is critical to the LED manufacturing process can also be used to manufacture high-efficiency triple junction solar cells. Veeco has also identified the thin film solar cell market as offering significant growth opportunity to the Company. The global energy dilemma is resulting in a significant amount of new research and spending into solar technologies as an alternative energy solution since it is non-polluting and has the potential to supply the world with high energy efficiency at low cost. While many of today's solar panels are based upon older silicon technologies, thin film CIGS solar cells offer the potential for lower manufacturing costs, and have the highest efficiency of the thin film technologies. According to a May 2008 report presented by the National Renewable Energy Labs ("NREL"), future CIGS Panel Photovoltaic ("PV") panels are projected to be "the most competitive thin film technology" based upon module efficiency and relative cost basis. CIGS solar panels have broad-based end market applications for solar farms, integrated building PV devices, rooftop grids and portable devices.
Since PV manufacturers often build their own equipment, there is a market opportunity emerging for equipment suppliers such as Veeco. In its October 2009 report, Greentech Media forecasted that the total available market for CIGS deposition systems would be greater than $850 million by 2012, a 74% compounded annual growth rate from 2008. To capitalize on this opportunity, in 2008 we purchased Mill Lane Engineering, a manufacturer of web deposition technology, to make flexible CIGS solar cells, and in 2009 we significantly expanded our product line to create a "best of breed" line of deposition systems that can deposit materials on flexible (stainless steel) or rigid (glass) substrates. Today Veeco supplies thermal evaporation components to over 50% of CIGS companies worldwide and has begun to penetrate CIGS customers with our deposition system solutions. We are increasing our research and development spending in CIGS technology since we believe it offers a significant growth opportunity over the next several years.
Our LED & Solar segment now represents our largest segment. Data Storage Business Overview and Trends: Worldwide storage demand continues to increase, driven by proliferation of laptop and netbook PC's, intelligent internet storage,e-mail, external storage devices, and new consumer applications (e.g. digital video recorders) now reaching higher volume. While much has been written about the competition hard disk drives ("HDDs") face from flash memory, we believe that HDDs will continue to provide the best value for mass storage and will remain at the forefront of large capacity storage applications. In fact, the use of disk drives in many types of consumer applications has resulted in growth in the number of hard drive units shipped, which is expected to continue. According to data storage research firm TrendFocus's February 2010 report, consumer electronic applications of HDDs are forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 11.9% from 2010 to 2014.
While technology change continues in data storage, the industry is going through a period of maturation, including vertical integration and consolidation, which has led to decreased capital investment. As a result of this consolidation and evolving customer landscape, we have taken actions to right-size our data storage businesses and product lines. We refocused our research and development efforts, discontinued several product lines, and in 2009 completed the consolidation of several manufacturing facilities. We continue to invest in research and development for next generation products for the data storage industry, and believe we are well-aligned to customer's technology requirements and demand for lower cost of ownership tools.
Metrology Business Overview and Industry Trends: Our Metrology segment sells its products to a broad range of industry and research customers. This business has often tracked to the growth of the economy and Gross Domestic Product, as instruments are used in a wide range of industrial applications. A meaningful trend in the research industry is an increased requirement for instrumentation capable of measuring materials and their associated properties at the nanoscale. The ability to design and control material structures from the atomic to the micron scale is fundamentally important to the creation of new materials and structures which have potential to reduce emissions, increase manufacturing yields and contribute to a longer and improved quality of life. Nanoscience continues to receive significant funding from the U.S. and other governments as well as from industry.
During the last two years we have refocused our Metrology business with new products that expand functionality and performance, which we believe has lead to market share expansion. Specifically, our Dimension® Icon®, Bioscope® Catalyst® and recently released MulitMode® 8 with ScanAsystTM AFMs are facilitating enhanced research in such areas as security, energy and biotechnology. We also believe that long-term growth opportunities exist in precision manufacturing segments such as medical device manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, clean energy (HB LED and Solar), and microelectronics. Our recently released large sample White-Light Interferometer, the NPFLEXTM and the NT9080TM small sample 3D microscope address the needs of these industries as they transition from traditional 2D metrology to a more comprehensive and enhanced 3D paradigm.
Metrology is also a key enabling technology in high tech manufacturing industries such as semiconductor and data storage. We have placed more than 450 fully automated AFM systems into these industries. These completely automated systems are used in-line by manufacturers of semiconductor chips and data storage TFMHs in their fabrication facilities. We believe that we are positioned to meet AFM metrology requirements of these industries as they emerge from a contraction cycle and enter a potential growth cycle.
Our Products
We have three business segments, LED & Solar Process Equipment, Data Storage Process Equipment, and Metrology. Net sales for these business segments is shown below for the years indicated:
LED & Solar Process Equipment
Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition Systems: We are one of the world's leading suppliers of MOCVD technology. MOCVD production systems are used to make GaN-based devices, (green and blue HB LEDs) and As/P-based devices (red, orange, and yellow HB LEDs), which are used today in television and laptop backlighting, general illumination, large area signage and specialty illumination. Our As/P MOCVD Systems also are used to make high-efficiency concentrator solar cells.
Molecular Beam Epitaxy Systems: MBE is the process of precisely depositing epitaxially aligned atomically thin crystal layers, or epilayers, of elemental materials onto a substrate in an ultra-high vacuum environment. For many compound semiconductors, MBE is the critical first step of the fabrication process, ultimately determining device functionality and performance. We provide a broad array of MBE components and systems for research and production applications and, in 2007, introduced a new line of thermal evaporation sources for the solar industry.
Web and Glass Coaters for Flexible Solar Cells: In the second quarter of 2008 we purchased Mill Lane Engineering, a manufacturer of web deposition equipment used to make CIGS solar cells. We have since expanded our product line to include "best of breed" solutions that perform 75% of the CIGS deposition steps on both flexible and rigid (glass) substrates. We believe that our FastFlex™ and FastLine™ systems offer high throughput and excellent performance for flexible thin film solar cell production, contributing to a lower cost of ownership for our customers.
Data Storage Process Equipment
Ion Beam Deposition ("IBD") Systems: Our NEXUS® IBD systems utilize ion beam technology to deposit precise layers of thin films and may be included on our cluster system platform to allow either parallel or sequential etch/deposition processes. IBD systems deposit high purity thin film layers and
provide maximum uniformity and repeatability. In addition to IBD systems, we provide a broad array of ion beam sources.
Ion Beam Etch ("IBE") Systems: Our NEXUS IBE systems, which etch precise, complex features for use primarily by data storage and telecommunications device manufacturers in the fabrication of discrete and integrated microelectronic devices.
Physical Vapor Deposition ("PVD") Systems: Our NEXUS PVD systems offer manufacturers a highly flexible deposition platform for developing next-generation data storage applications.
Diamond-Like Carbon ("DLC") Deposition Systems: Our DLC deposition systems deposit protective coatings on advanced TFMHs.Chemical Vapor Deposition ("CVD") Systems: Our NEXUS CVD systems, introduced to the market in 2008, deposit conformal films for advanced TFMH applications.
Precision Lapping, Slicing, and Dicing Systems: Our Optium® products generally are used in "back-end" applications in a data storage fab where TFMHs or "sliders" are fabricated. This equipment includes lapping tools, which enable precise material removal within three nanometers, which is necessary for next generation TFMHs. We also manufacture instruments that slice and dice wafers into rowbars and TFMHs.
Metrology
Our metrology product line includes atomic force/scanning probe microscopes, optical metrology tools, and stylus profilers for a wide range of applications in research and industry.
Atomic Force/Scanning Probe Microscopes: We have the world's most comprehensive product portfolio of research AFMs and SPMs, used in leading edge nano-scale materials research, in HB LED, solar, biological and nanotechnology applications. Our NanoScope® and Dimension products lead the industry and are synonymous with leading-edge performance and are widely used by leading universities and corporate research centers worldwide. Building upon our long-standing leadership position in AFM technology we continue to develop new products for production and research applications. We also produce a broad range of automated AFM/SPM products designed for data storage, semiconductor and research and other industrial applications.
The atomic force microscope investigates the sample surface directly using a probe consisting of a very sharp tip, or probe, mounted on a microscopic spring arm (a cantilever). The interaction of the probe with the surface is detected by measuring deflections of the cantilever with an optical beam system. AFMs make these measurements on almost any surface; in air, vacuum or under fluids; and with minimal sample preparation.
Stylus Profilers: Stylus profilers are used to produce cross-sectional representations and/or quantitative measurements, which are displayed on a video monitor. Our Dektak® stylus profiler systems utilize a precision translation stage which creates relative motion between the sample and a diamond tipped stylus. Stylus profilers are widely used for height, width, pitch, and roughness measurements of features on semiconductor devices, magnetic and optical storage media (such as hard drives), flat panel displays, and hybrid circuits.
Optical Metrology Products: Substantially all of our optical metrology instruments are designed to make non-contact surface measurements using either interferometry or a spinning disc confocal architecture. These processes involve the use of either white light or laser sources to measure surface roughness and shape. Our White-Light Interometers create interference patterns from the optical path difference between the test surface and a reference surface. Using a combination of phase shifting interferometry and vertical scanning interferometry, these instruments are designed to rapidly and
Precisely measure and characterize a range of surface sizes and shapes. Our series of confocal microscopes employ a spinning disc design which facilitates faster image acquisition, a limitation of traditional laser-based scanning confocal microscopes. Veeco's microscopes can address a wide gamut of applications from angstrom to micron features.
Service and Sales
We sell our products and services worldwide through various strategically located sales and service facilities in the U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific, and Japan, and we believe that our customer service organization is a significant factor in our success. We provide service and support on a warranty, service contract or an individual service-call basis. We offer enhanced warranty coverage and services, including preventative maintenance plans, on-call and on-site service plans and other comprehensive service arrangements, product and application training, consultation services, and a 24-hour hotline service for certain products. We believe that offering timely support creates stronger relationships with customers and provides us with a significant competitive advantage. Revenues from the sale of parts, service, and support represented approximately 16%, 19%, and 21% of our net sales for the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008, and 2007, respectively. Parts sales represented approximately 11%, 14%, and 17% of our net sales for those periods, respectively, and service and support sales were 5%, 5%, and 4%, respectively.
Customers
We sell our products to many of the world's major HB LED, solar, data storage and semiconductor manufacturers, and to customers in other industries, research centers, and universities. We rely on certain principal customers for a significant portion of our sales. Sales to LG Electronics, Inc. accounted more than 10% of Veeco's total net sales in 2009 and sales to Seagate Technology, Inc. accounted for 10% or more of Veeco's total net sales in 2008 and 2007. If any principal customer discontinues its relationship with us or suffers economic difficulties, our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results could be materially and adversely affected.
Research and Development
We believe that continued and timely development of new products and enhancements to existing products are necessary to maintain our competitive position. We work collaboratively with our customers to help ensure our technology and product roadmaps are aligned with customer requirements. Our research and development programs are organized by product line and new or improved products have been introduced into each of our product lines in each of the past three years.
Our research and development expenses were approximately $57.4 million, $60.4 million, and $61.2 million, or approximately 15.1%, 13.6%, and 15.2% of net sales for the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008, and 2007, respectively. These expenses consisted primarily of salaries, project material, and other product development and enhancement costs.
Suppliers
We currently outsource, and plan to increase the outsourcing of, certain functions to third parties, including the manufacture of all or substantially all of our new MOCVD systems, data storage process equipment systems, solar deposition systems, ion sources and certain components in our metrology products. We primarily rely on several suppliers for the manufacturing of these systems. We plan to maintain internal manufacturing capability for these systems at least until such time as we have qualified one or more alternate suppliers to perform this manufacturing. The failure of our present suppliers to meet their contractual obligations under our supply arrangements and our inability to make
alternative arrangements or resume the manufacture of these systems ourselves could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, profitability, cash flows, and relationships with our customers.
In addition, certain of the components and sub-assemblies included in our products are obtained from a single source or a limited group of suppliers. Our inability to develop alternative sources, if necessary, could result in a prolonged interruption in supply or a significant increase in the price of one or more components, which could adversely affect our operating results.
Product Development and Marketing
Our principal activities, which consist of product development, integration, test operations and assembly, are organized by product and take place at our facilities in Plainview and Clifton Park, New York; Santa Barbara and Camarillo, California; Tucson, Arizona; Ft. Collins, Colorado; Somerset, New Jersey; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Lowell, Massachusetts.
Product Organization
Our sales, marketing, manufacturing and research and development functions are organized by product families. We believe that this organizational structure allows each product family manager to more closely monitor the products for which he is responsible, resulting in more efficient sales, marketing, manufacturing, and research and development. We emphasize customer responsiveness, customer service, high-quality products, and an interactive management style. By implementing these management philosophies, we believe that we have increased our competitiveness and are well-positioned for future growth.
Backlog
Our backlog increased to $402.0 million at December 31, 2009 from $147.2 million at December 31, 2008. During the year ended December 31, 2009, we experienced net backlog adjustments of approximately $4.5 million, consisting of $3.8 million for order cancellations and $0.7 million of adjustments related to foreign currency translation.
Our backlog consists of product orders for which we received a firm purchase order, a customer-confirmed shipment date within twelve months, and an appropriate deposit, where required.