[Interview] Global Semiconductor Materials CEO: "AI Boom to Trigger Explosive HBM Demand in Second Half"

Rafi Amit, Chairman of CAMT, Attends Semicon Korea 2025
"If TSMC Expands Packaging, HBM Supply Will Be Resolved"
'Hawk' Unveiled for the First Time... Capable of Inspecting Up to 16 Layers of HBM

The CEO of CAMT, a global leader in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) testing equipment, predicted that HBM demand will increase significantly starting in the second half of this year.

Rafi Amit, Chairman and CEO of CAMT, told Asia Economy on the 19th at COEX in Seoul during 'Semicon Korea 2025' that "While the artificial intelligence (AI) market has grown and high-performance computing (HPC) demand has surged, HBM supply has not kept pace. As Taiwan's TSMC expands its packaging process (CoWoS) production capacity for semiconductor chips, HBM supply will become smoother and demand will explode from the second half of the year."

Rafi Amit, Chairman and CEO of CAMT, is introducing CAMT's equipment in front of a screen after completing an interview with Asia Economy at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 19th. Photo by Jang Hee-jun

Headquartered in Israel, CAMT is a leading company in AI chip packaging and unveiled its new equipment 'Hawk' for the first time at this exhibition, capable of testing up to 16 layers of HBM3E. Its major clients include Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Taiwan's TSMC, and U.S. companies Intel and Micron.

Amit said, "To mount HBM on graphics processing units (GPUs), chiplet-structured packaging technology is essential, but supply shortages have caused bottlenecks. If TSMC reliably doubles its CoWoS production capacity this year, HBM supply will become much smoother."

HBM demand has rapidly increased as the AI and HPC markets have grown explosively, but recently, with the emergence of China's DeepSeek, some have predicted a decline in high-performance semiconductor demand.

However, major U.S. big tech companies continue to make astronomical investments in the AI industry, and GPU manufacturers such as NVIDIA and AMD are actively adopting HBM in their latest AI chips. For this reason, forecasts of exponential growth in HBM demand are resurfacing.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are also preparing for increased HBM demand. Amit stated, "Hawk will be essential equipment for HBM manufacturers like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Even before its release, 25 units have been ordered from Korea and the U.S., and an additional 50 units will be contracted within this year."

An image of the semiconductor tester equipment 'Hawk' first unveiled by CAMT at Semicon Korea 2025 held on the 19th at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. It has the capability to test up to 16 layers of HBM3E. Provided by CAMT

As HBM becomes more highly integrated, the resolution and precision of inspection equipment are becoming increasingly important. The development has expanded from the existing 8-layer and 12-layer stacking methods to recently 16 layers, which is why the role of advanced inspection equipment companies like CAMT is emphasized. As AI semiconductor manufacturers increase production, demand for HBM inspection and packaging equipment is also expected to rise.

Hawk is a model designed for next-generation advanced technology, surpassing all the capabilities of the existing Eagle model, according to CAMT. Amit emphasized, "Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are leaders in the semiconductor industry, and as technology advances, CAMT will be increasingly necessary. Especially in the AI semiconductor packaging field, CAMT's equipment holds a unique position."

CAMT's market capitalization has grown more than threefold from $1.2735 billion in February 2021 to $3.825 billion as of early this month, five years later. It reached $5.913 billion in June last year. Currently classified as a mid-cap stock on the Nasdaq market, it is widely regarded as having strong potential to grow into a large-cap stock.

CAMT's sales in the fourth quarter of last year were $117.3 million, a 32% increase compared to the same period the previous year, and operating profit surged 82% to $31.3 million. Annual sales recorded $429.2 million (a 36% increase), operating profit was $108.1 million (a 65% increase), and net profit was $118.5 million (a 51% increase).

The CAMT booth participating in SEMICON Korea 2025 held at COEX, Gangnam-gu, Seoul from the 19th to the 21st. Photo by Jang Hee-jun

Sales in the first quarter of this year are expected to reach $120 million, a 23% growth year-over-year. The Asian market accounts for 87% of total sales, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as key customers. This is also why new technology was first unveiled in Korea. As TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix expand their HBM packaging production capacity, CAMT's influence is expected to grow. Amit forecasted, "With 2D and 3D inspection technologies, we can support most AI-related products and will benefit from the expansion of the AI market."

Meanwhile, CAMT's newly launched model 'Hawk' has advanced capabilities to measure bump (tiny metal protrusions connecting semiconductor chips and substrates) spacing below 10 μm. It can measure 500 million bumps per wafer within minutes and accurately detect defects as small as 150 nm. CAMT's existing flagship model 'Eagle' is an optical device-based tester that detects defects with high resolution, and the next-generation 'Eagle G5,' developed from it, has improved optical resolution to observe the fine bump spacing of HBM.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.