Advanced chipmaking drives Taiwan inspection firms toward listings

先進晶片製造技術推動台灣檢測公司上市

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s automated optical inspection equipment makers are turning to public listings as demand for high-precision chip inspection continues to rise, CTEE reported Monday.

V5 Technologies Co. listed in late March, becoming the 37th stock to trade above NT$1,000 (US$32) per share on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on its debut trading day. Hua Yang Precision Machinery Co. is expected to debut on the Taipei Exchange this month.

According to market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the global semiconductor inspection equipment market reached NT$411 billion last year. It is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.4% through 2030.

The expansion of advanced chipmaking is a key driver. Chip structures are becoming thinner and more complex as manufacturing moves below 7 nm and adopts new technologies.

These structures are harder to inspect with sampling methods, increasing demand for full inspection and high-precision automated optical inspection systems. Automated optical inspection is a high-speed optical imaging technology that uses machine vision to detect defects, improving on traditional manual optical inspection methods, according to the Department of Industrial Technology.

V5 focuses on high-end automated optical measurement systems and AI-based image analysis, as semiconductor manufacturers shift toward fully automated production systems. Director Huang Chien-chung (黃建中) said demand is expected to remain strong this year as chipmakers expand capacity.

He added that while wafer fabs accounted for a larger share of revenue last year, orders from outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers have increased this year. The company expects double-digit revenue growth.

Hua Yang focuses on inspection for photomasks, wafers, and advanced packaging. It is the only Taiwanese company capable of detecting particles on both extreme ultraviolet and deep ultraviolet photomasks, a segment long dominated by overseas suppliers.

General Manager Hsiao Hsien-te (蕭賢德) said the company’s surface optical filtering technology uses a patented light source design to capture images without background patterns, reducing reliance on complex algorithms and improving measurement accuracy. Hua Yang also projects double-digit revenue growth this year.