India’s chip push draws Hirata into the market

Hyderabad: Japanese semiconductor automation and equipment company Hirata Corporation is entering the Indian market through a strategic partnership with industrial automation firm ATS India. The collaboration aims to establish Hirata as the exclusive distribution partner for its semiconductor automation products in India. Initially, ATS India will concentrate on promoting Hirata's standard automation products, recognizing the potential for the Indian semiconductor automation market to reach approximately $100 million by 2030.

The surge in investments across semiconductor fabs, OSAT, and advanced packaging is driving Hirata's entry into the Indian market. Hirata's semiconductor portfolio constitutes roughly half of its global annual business, with the company specializing in supplying automation solutions to semiconductor equipment manufacturers. These processes encompass lithography, wafer cleaning, and metrology.

Under the partnership, Hirata will initially offer standard, pre-configured products such as equipment front-end modules (EFEMs), load ports, FOUP openers, FOPLP load ports, panel handling robots, and high-performance wafer handling robots. These products are designed for straightforward installation and use in semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Hirata also acknowledges the potential for ground-based automation, including autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and collaborative robots (cobots), especially in facilities lacking overhead transport infrastructure.

For ATS India, the partnership allows the company to extend its existing expertise as a special-purpose machine builder and systems integrator, particularly in the automotive sector. ATS India CEO Kishen Kavikondala notes that while they continue to market and sell Hirata's standard products, they are prepared to provide necessary integration assistance to customers.

The partnership leverages ATS India's capabilities developed in automotive engineering and integration, extending them to the semiconductor manufacturing sector.

Hirata sees outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing (OSAT) companies and semiconductor equipment manufacturers as its primary customer segments in India.