The most important market segments of the X-Ray Systems division differed in their trajectories in fiscal year 2022. The semiconductor and electronics industry slowed visibly after a strong first three quarters. In contrast, the aerospace industry continued its upswing, benefiting from the desire to travel after the pandemic subsided in large parts of the world. The recovery in the auto industry was held back by component shortages, which the boom in new registrations of electric vehicles did not fully make up for.

Of the Group’s three divisions, IXS was the one most affected by the Chinese zero-COVID policy. It led to the postponement of system installations at customers in China, mainly in the first half of the year. Comet could not fully compensate this in the second half of the year, especially as the growing uncertainties in the market led to hesitant ordering behavior on the part of customers. Rapidly rising COVID-19 case numbers at the end of the year also impacted business in China.

IXS again made encouraging progress in this challenging environment. The streamlining of the portfolio to focus on standard systems is essentially complete, the number of software platforms offered has been reduced, and the adjustments to the organization are taking shape. Headway was also made with a new version of the proven Cheetah series, which will lead to significantly higher productivity and repeatability thanks to a new water-cooled tube and new image acquisition set-up. As well, VistaX, a novel type of software, opens up new horizons in imaging and sets standards in terms of productivity.

In the promising advanced packaging business, the collaboration with a leading company in this space is exceeding expectations and demonstrates that x-ray technology holds great potential in this market. IXS has an opportunity to expand the boundaries of microchip inspection. Thanks to product quality improvements achieved, IXS is well-placed to become an indispensable partner to the semiconductor industry in the coming years.