MUNICH, Germany — While U.S.-based vendor Applied Materials is the king of the hill in the PV cell manufacturing business, European companies dominate the market, says a VLSI Research study.

According to the study, in 2008 Applied Materials was by far the largest provider for photovoltaic cell manufacturing equipment with sales of $455 million in this segment. Number two was Roth & Rau AG from Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Dresden, Germany The company achieved relevant sales of $275 million in 2008. With sales of $270 million almost neck-on-neck with Roth & Rau is Centrotherm GmbH & Co KG (Blaubeuren, Germany).

OC Oerlikon Balzers AG from Balzers (Switzerland) follows on rank 4 with revenues of $250 million. The next position is held by a Japanese company, Ulvac, Inc. from Kanagawa. Ulvac booked relevant sales of $240 million. Number 6 is Manz Automation AG from Reutlingen (Germany) with sales of $140 million. Schmid Gruppe Technology Systems GmbH (Freudenstadt, Germany) ranks number 7 with sales of $125 million, followed by Von Ardenne Anlagentechnik GmbH (Dresden, Germany) which sold equipment for $120 million. Rena Sondermaschinen GmbH (Guetenbach, Germany) achieved sales of $85 million, enough for rank 9. On rank 10, we find 3S Swiss Solar Systems from Lyss (Switzerland) with sales of $70 million.

The ten largest vendors in this market combined achieved sales of $2.03 billion, of which exactly 50 percent accounted to the German vendors included in this study.

In 2008, the key trend in the photovoltaics industry was the rise of the turnkey thin film line, explained VLSI Research analyst Andrew Thomas. For 2009, the industry likely will continue its growth albeit at a slower pace than in record year 2008, he added.

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