# Besi (BE Semiconductor Industries) Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/companies/besi Besi is a Dutch maker of chip assembly machines. Its hybrid bonders, which fuse stacked chips copper to copper with no solder, are the leading tool for 3D chip stacking in AI processors and future memory. ## In brief - H1 2026 orders €562.6M, up 116.5% on H1 2025, led by hybrid bonding, photonics and data-centre computing. - Applied Materials owns 9% and co-develops Kinex, an integrated die-to-wafer hybrid bonding line. - SK hynix pushed hybrid bonding in HBM back a generation (Aug 2026), delaying Besi's memory upside. ## Facts - Founded: 1995 - Headquarters: NL - Status: public - Listing: BESI (Euronext) - Website: https://www.besi.com - Frontiers: [Computing](https://technooptimist.io/computing.md) (Advanced packaging) ## Programs - [Besi hybrid bonding systems](https://technooptimist.io/computing/hybrid-bonding.md) (Computing): Scaling; next: Hybrid bonding enters HBM (pushed back to HBM5 by SK hynix). Shipping to logic makers for AI chips; orders doubled in H1 2026, but HBM adoption slipped to HBM5. ## Technical approach - **Placement: Placing chips to within 100 nm**: Its latest hybrid bonder places each die on a wafer with 100 nm accuracy, so copper pads a few microns wide line up with the pads below. - **Partner: Front-end prep plus back-end placement**: Applied Materials supplies the cleaning, plasma activation and metrology steps; Besi supplies the die placement. Kinex puts both in one sealed tool. - **Two tracks: Hybrid bonding and thermocompression**: Chipmakers buy both: thermocompression bonders press chips together through tiny solder bumps today, hybrid bonders replace bumps at finer pitch. ## Open problems - **Throughput is still low** (active research): Placing dies one by one at nanometre accuracy in near-perfect cleanliness is slow; trade press called Kinex throughput 'still poor' in late 2025. - **Memory adoption keeps slipping** (open): Bonding 16 to 20 stacked memory dies copper to copper reliably is unsolved at volume; SK hynix now plans microbumps through HBM4E. ## Latest updates - **6 Oct 2026**: Bank of America downgrades Besi, citing ASML's interest in hybrid bonding. Bank of America cut Besi to neutral and nearly halved its price target, saying ASML's study of hybrid bonding is a threat not priced into the stock. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/bank-of-america-downgrades-besi-citing-asml-s-interest-in-hybrid-bonding-43fb183f.md) · [original source](https://thenextweb.com/news/besi-asml-hybrid-bonding-dutch)) - **1 Oct 2026**: Besi joins Applied Materials' EPIC Center, widening their hybrid bonding partnership. Besi became an Innovation Partner at Applied Materials' EPIC Center in Silicon Valley, extending a collaboration that began in 2020 at a joint hybrid bonding centre in Singapore and produced Kinex. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/besi-joins-applied-materials-epic-center-widening-their-hybrid-bonding-d4ed2d9a.md) · [original source](https://finviz.com/news/397813/applied-materials-and-besi-expand-strategic-partnership-to-advance-next-generation-packaging-for-ai-scaling)) - **26 Aug 2026**: SK hynix pushes hybrid bonding in HBM back to HBM5, delaying a key market for Besi. At Hot Chips 2026, SK hynix said it will keep microbump stacking through HBM4E and move to hybrid bonding a generation later. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/sk-hynix-pushes-hybrid-bonding-in-hbm-back-to-hbm5-delaying-a-key-9637cdf3.md) · [original source](https://bits-chips.com/article/besi-faces-longer-wait-as-sk-hynix-pushes-hybrid-bonding-to-hbm5/)) - **23 Apr 2026**: Besi Q1 orders double to €269.7M on a jump in hybrid bonding bookings. Besi's first-quarter orders reached €269.7M, up 104.5% on a year earlier, driven by a significant increase in hybrid bonding bookings. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/besi-q1-orders-double-to-269-7m-on-a-jump-in-hybrid-bonding-bookings-17f12a83.md) · [original source](https://www.besi.com/investor-relations/press-releases/details/be-semiconductor-industries-nv-announces-q1-26-results/)) - **14 Apr 2025**: Applied Materials buys 9% of Besi to deepen their hybrid bonding partnership. Applied Materials bought 9% of Besi's shares on the market, building on a collaboration since 2020 to make the first fully integrated equipment for die-based hybrid bonding. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/applied-materials-buys-9-of-besi-to-deepen-their-hybrid-bonding-5ddfdfe9.md) · [original source](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/6951/000119312525080269/d939298dex991.htm)) - **9 May 2024**: Besi wins order for 26 hybrid bonding systems from a leading logic chipmaker. Besi received an order for 26 hybrid bonding systems from an unnamed leading logic manufacturer, for its newest machine with 100 nm placement accuracy. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/besi-wins-order-for-26-hybrid-bonding-systems-from-a-leading-logic-c8273d2c.md) · [original source](https://live.euronext.com/sites/default/files/company_press_releases/attachments/2024/05/09/Connect_hb-orders-may-2024.pdf)) ## Partners, customers and investors - Applied Materials (investor): Bought a 9% stake in April 2025; partners since 2020 on integrated die-based hybrid bonding (Kinex). - SK hynix (customer): Reportedly ordered a pilot hybrid-bonding line combining Applied Materials and Besi equipment. - TSMC (customer): Described as TSMC's main supplier of hybrid bonding tools. - NHanced Semiconductors (customer): US packaging foundry; took delivery of the first next-generation Datacon 8800 CHAMEO ultra plus hybrid bonder in 2024. ## People - Richard Blickman, Founder, President & CEO --- The Techno Optimist tracks every frontier of technology, program by program: https://technooptimist.io/ (a Markdown version of any page: add .md to its URL; site map for agents: https://technooptimist.io/llms.txt). 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