About Intevac

Intevac, Inc. (Intevac) provides vacuum deposition equipment for a wide variety of thin-film applications. Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Equipment Market Intevac designs, manufactures, markets, and services complex capital equipment used to deposit thin films and lubricants onto substrates to produce magnetic disks that are used in HDDs. Disk and disk drive manufacturers produce magnetic disks in a sophisticated manufacturing process involving many steps, including plating, annealing, polishing, texturing, sputtering, etching, stripping and lubrication. Intevac’s systems are used by manufacturers of magnetic media, such as Seagate Technology, Western Digital Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary HGST. HDDs are a primary storage medium for digital data in enterprise nearline ‘cloud’ applications, enterprise performance and surveillance applications, and, to a lesser extent, in personal computers (PCs). Intevac expects that HDD manufacturers will extend their utilization of planar perpendicular media with the introduction of new technologies, such as Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) and Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording (EAMR). Initial shipments of HAMR and EAMR-based HDDs began in 2020. Display Cover Panel (DCP) Market Intevac develops equipment to deposit optically transparent thin films onto DCPs typically found on consumer and automotive electronics products, including smartphones, foldable devices, smartwatches, wearable devices, tablet PCs, gaming systems, digital cameras, automotive infotainment systems, point-of-sale devices, and digital signage. In 2022, approximately 1.2 billion smartphones, 516 million smart watches, and 457 million tablet PCs were shipped to consumers worldwide. For smartphones alone, it is forecasted that nearly 1.4 billion units will ship in 2026. DCPs are typically made of tempered glass, such as soda-lime or aluminosilicate, or other materials, such as sapphire, glass-ceramic and colorless polyimide. The primary function of the DCP is to provide a clear protective interface to the display it protects. In many cases, the DCP is treated with various coatings to enhance its protective performance, as well as for clarity, readability and touch sensitivity. The types of coatings typically found on DCPs of electronic devices include Scratch Protection (SP) coatings, Anti-Reflection (AR) coatings, Anti-Fingerprint (AF) and Non-Conductive Vacuum Metallization (NCVM) coatings. SP coatings generally consist of hard thin films deposited onto the surface of the DCP. Their primary function is to provide enhanced protection against the incidence of scratch, but they can also provide greater breakage resistance. Intevac developed its own SP coating for DCP applications, utilizing its production-proven carbon film technology that is also used on HDD media. This coating provides a hard protective layer which significantly improves the DCP’s resistance to scratches and breakage. Intevac expects that the adoption of AR and NCVM coatings on mobile devices will create an increased need for SP coatings and provide a significant demand opportunity for ultra-durable protective glass coatings. AR coatings enable greater light transmission though the DCP by reducing the light reflected by the surface back to the user’s eye. This allows the user to more easily read the display and reduces the required power needed to display the image which results in extending the battery life. A significant drawback to using AR coatings is their susceptibility to scratch. AR coatings are typically soft and must be applied to the outer surface of the DCP. These coatings generally scratch easily, and as such, smartphone manufacturers have been reluctant to implement AR coatings on their products. AF coatings provide water and oil protection for the surface of the DCP. This coating, which prevents fingerprints, provides greater aesthetics, as well as improving readability. AF coatings allow for greater visual acuity when fingerprints are not visible. The drawback to AF coatings is their relatively low resistance to wear. The coating is soft and usually wears off within a few months of product purchase. In March 2022, the company ceased pursuing several DCP projects and instead started a focused effort to develop a new, modular platform that can be configured to handle a variety of form factors, including two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) shapes and both small and large surface area substrates. This platform was introduced as TRIO in March 2022. TRIO is a flexible, horizontal deposition tool platform that evolved from Intevac’s decades of experience in delivering high-performance equipment for both the HDD and solar markets. TRIO leverages Intevac’s materials science and coating equipment technology to deposit SP and AR coatings with enhanced durability for all types of mobile consumer devices, as well as auto display glass. The TRIO platform contains proprietary, patent-protected components and automation that allow fast, precise deposition of coatings with superior adhesion, hardness, strength, and optical properties. Thin Film Equipment (TFE) Products Intevac’s TFE product portfolio addressing each of these markets is based around common core technologies and competencies. Intevac believes its TFE product portfolio can be extended to support adjacent markets. Based on its history and market and technology leadership in the HDD industry, Intevac offers superior high-productivity vacuum handling of small substrates at the lowest cost of ownership. Lowest cost of ownership includes various advantages, such as high target utilization, high throughput, small footprint, double-sided coating, and reduced materials costs. HDD Equipment Market 200 Lean Disk Sputtering System: It uses physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technologies; deposits magnetic films, non-magnetic films and protective carbon-based overcoats; provides high-throughput for small-substrate processing; over 180 units installed. Upgrades, spares, consumables and services (non-systems business): It upgrades to the installed base to support the continued growth in areal density or reduce the manufacturing cost per disk. DCP Market TRIO: It uses proprietary sputtering technology for multiple film types; allows for precise deposition of thin film layering to manage film stress; uses patented deposition systems and designs; modular design enables expandability; can operate at low vacuum pressure and temperature, allowing coating of a variety of substrate types; can coat both 2D and 3D substrates of different sizes with high precision control of resultant performance. Customer Concentration The majority of Intevac’s foreign sales are to companies in Asia or to the U.S. companies for use in their Asian manufacturing or development operations. Intevac’s disk sputtering equipment customers include magnetic disk manufacturers, such as Showa Denko, and vertically integrated HDD manufacturers, such as Seagate Technology, Western Digital Corporation and HGST. Intevac’s DCP equipment customers include DCP manufacturers, such as Truly Opto-electronics. Intevac’s customers’ manufacturing facilities are primarily located in California, China, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Portugal and Singapore. The company’s customers also include Amkor Technology, Inc. Marketing and Sales Sales are made primarily through Intevac’s direct sales force. Intevac also sells its products through distributors in Japan and China. Trademarks The company’s trademarks include 200 Lean, DiamondClad, ENERGi, INTEVAC LSMA, INTEVAC MATRIX, oDLC, and INTEVAC TRIO. Strategy The company’s long-term growth strategy requires continued development of new products. Competition Intevac has one major competitor, Canon Anelva, in the HDD equipment market. Intevac faces competition in the DCP market from optical coating equipment manufacturers, such as Optorun, Shincron and Hongda. History Intevac, Inc. was incorporated in 1990.