By Finlay Colville – Senior Analyst, Solarbuzz and Charles Annis – Vice President, Manufacturing Research, DisplaySearch

As originally featured on PV-Tech.org on November 17, 2010, our analysis reveals that Applied Materials (AMAT) has just reached a significant landmark. They are the first equipment supplier to reach and exceed the US$1 billion barrier for PV-specific trended Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) tool revenues. This is based on AMAT FY2010 results, which reported fourth-quarter net sales within its Energy & Environmental Services (EES) segment (includes PV tool revenues) of US$606 million. In spite of the dwindling backlog and subsequent discontinuation of one of its flagship PV-specific products, AMAT’s PV revenues have stabilized at, and then considerably exceeded, the US$1 billion trended TTM level.
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By Finlay Colville – Senior Analyst, Solarbuzz and Charles Annis – Vice President, Manufacturing Research, DisplaySearch

Applied Materials has more experience depositing high quality silicon thin films on large glass substrates than any other company in the world, based on its PECVD tools for the production of TFT LCDs. So it seemed to offer a credible solution to the desire to add solar cell capacity despite the silicon shortage over the past few years: the SunFab™ turn-key Thin Film Si (TF Si) line, which could produce the biggest solar modules in the world. But Applied Materials struggled to sign up customers, and on July 21, announced it was discontinuing sales of its SunFab lines to new customers.
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