--- title: "ASM International says its film erases a chip-polishing step in an $8.85 billion market; Q3 lands October 27" description: "ASM's first PECVD flowable carbon film is in high-volume manufacturing and claims to erase the CMP step, a USD 8.85 billion market. The October 27 Q3 report is the first chance management sizes it." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Silicon" published: 2026-10-09T18:26:27.860Z modified: 2026-10-09T18:26:27.860Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/asm-international-says-its-film-erases-a-chip-polishing-step-in-an-8-85-billion-market-q3-lands-october-27 language: en keywords: "ASM International, Semiconductors, Chip Equipment, CMP, Earnings" --- # ASM International says its film erases a chip-polishing step in an $8.85 billion market; Q3 lands October 27 > ASM's first PECVD flowable carbon film is in high-volume manufacturing and claims to erase the CMP step, a USD 8.85 billion market. The October 27 Q3 report is the first chance management sizes it. [ASM International](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/asm-international) has quietly moved into a part of the chipmaking line it never owned. On September 22, 2026, the Dutch equipment maker [launched XP8 Vertos Flowable Carbon, which it calls the market's first plasma-enhanced CVD flowable carbon film](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/asm-launches-breakthrough-flowable-carbon-140000843.html), and said it is already in initial high-volume manufacturing across logic and memory devices [1]. The pitch is step-count economics. Conventional carbon hardmask films conform to a feature's shape, so uneven topography propagates upward and must be corrected downstream, typically by chemical mechanical planarization or etch-back. Vertos instead [flows into high-aspect-ratio 3D features, fills bottom-up without voids or seams, and self-planarizes in the same PECVD chamber](https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/tech-companies/world-first-chipmaking-carbon-fills-3d-gaps-and-creates-flat-surfaces-in-one-step/ar-AA2cPBiQ), which ASM says can eliminate those downstream steps entirely [1] [2]. ## Who loses the planarization budget Every sequence Vertos collapses is spending that today goes to CMP. [That market was worth USD 8.85 billion in 2025, projected by Research and Markets to reach USD 15.42 billion by 2035](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/chemical-mechanical-planarization-global-market-090100589.html), with slurries the largest product segment at 42.5 percent of 2025 revenue and named players including [Applied Materials](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/applied-materials), Ebara, Entegris, DuPont, JSR and Cabot [6]. ASM says its single-chamber process removes the need for those CMP or etch-back steps in fill-planarize flows [1] [2]. The win widens ASM beyond the ALD and epitaxy franchise where it built its name, and the loser side is explicit: CMP tool vendors like Applied Materials and Ebara, slurry and consumable houses like DuPont, JSR and Cabot, and multi-step deposition rivals. "The combination of engineered flowability, thermal stability, and area selective properties in a single PECVD platform is something the market has not seen before," said Tyler Sample, who heads ASM's PECVD product unit [1]. ## Guidance rises before Vertos books a euro Whether any of that shows in the numbers is the open question. [ASM guided Q3 revenue to EUR 1.10 billion with second-half growth above 20 percent at constant currency](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/corporate-news/asm-sets-october-27-results-date-and-asm-stock-loses-3-70-percent/70254343) and expects the first meaningful 1.4-nanometer customer contribution in H2 2026, but no customer is named and no revenue is attached to Vertos yet [4] [5]. Q2 revenue hit EUR 1.00 billion, up 24 percent year on year at constant currency and above EUR 980 million guidance, with a 33 percent adjusted operating margin [4] [5]. *Chart: **ASM beat its own Q2 guidance and guided Q3 higher** ASM quarterly revenue: Q2 2026 reported at EUR 1.00 billion, Q3 2026 guided at EUR 1.10 billion, versus Q2 guidance of EUR 980 million* *ASM International revenue by quarter, EUR billions. Q2 2026 is reported; Q3 2026 is company guidance, marked as an estimate. Sources: [4] [5]. [4][5]* ## The market is hedging before the print The stock is not acting like a company that just ate into a USD 8.85 billion adjacent market. ASM closed at EUR 911.60 on October 7, down 3.70 percent, roughly 16 percent below its EUR 1,092.50 52-week high against a EUR 44.9 billion market cap [5]. When management reports on October 27 at around 6:00 p.m. CET, its first sizing of Vertos adoption will either justify pricing ASM as more than a point-deposition company, or silence would say the HVM win is not yet material [3] [4] [5]. ## Takeaway ASM's Vertos Flowable Carbon is in high-volume manufacturing and claims to erase the CMP step in an $8.85 billion market; with no Vertos revenue attached yet, the October 27 Q3 report is the first test of whether management sizes it. ## Sources 1. [Yahoo Finance / GlobeNewswire press release, ASM launches breakthrough Flowable Carbon technology for the next era of semiconductor scaling, 22 September 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/asm-launches-breakthrough-flowable-carbon-140000843.html) 2. [Interesting Engineering via MSN, World-first chipmaking carbon fills 3D gaps and creates flat surfaces in one step, September 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/tech-companies/world-first-chipmaking-carbon-fills-3d-gaps-and-creates-flat-surfaces-in-one-step/ar-AA2cPBiQ) 3. [ad-hoc-news.de, ASM launches Vertos Flowable Carbon. ASM stock falls 1.12 percent, 7 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/corporate-news/asm-launches-vertos-flowable-carbon-asm-stock-falls-1-12-percent/70232460) 4. [ad-hoc-news.de, ASM completes EUR 150 million buyback as ASM stock sits 12.39 percent below its high, 7 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/corporate-news/asm-completes-eur-150-million-buyback-as-asm-stock-sits-12-39-percent-below-its-high/70242289) 5. [ad-hoc-news.de, ASM sets October 27 results date and ASM stock loses 3.70 percent, 8 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/corporate-news/asm-sets-october-27-results-date-and-asm-stock-loses-3-70-percent/70254343) 6. [Research and Markets via Yahoo Finance, Chemical Mechanical Planarization Global Market Size, Share, and Growth Forecast 2026-2035, 29 September 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/chemical-mechanical-planarization-global-market-090100589.html) --- ASM International says its film erases a chip-polishing step in an $8.85 billion market; Q3 lands October 27 — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/asm-international-says-its-film-erases-a-chip-polishing-step-in-an-8-85-billion-market-q3-lands-october-27