So the last time we saw each other here roughly 12 months ago, there was nearly a blue sky scenario for the semiconductor industry, but also for Comet. Since then, I'd say, 2023 has not only put us, but the whole semiconductor industry to the test. So welcome, ladies and gentlemen, either here in the room or on the screen following the webcast. Thank you for joining us. A special welcome to the two boys we have in the audience. Probably know that it's the Zukunftstag, the future day today. So we have Timo and Jan in the audience, also following our presentation. I'm sure you want to know more about Synertia.
So you've seen some introduction here regarding Synertia, but you will hear a lot more from both our CEO, Stephan Haferl, as well as from our division president, PCT, Joeri Durinckx. So the program as follows, we'll have an hour with CEO and CFO. After a short break, then we will—you will see the three division presidents presenting on the progress in their divisions. You will, after that, have ample time for a discussion, for a Q&A, and we invite you after that. Unfortunately, only those here in the room and not on the webcast for an operation outside, where you can continue the discussion with our management. As usual, I also need to point you to this disclaimer, so we will make any statements today, so you can read it by yourself.
Just cautious with what is said today, that's not predicting exactly the future. With that, it is my pleasure to hand over to our CEO, Stephan Haferl. Stephan, please.
Thank you, Woody. Thank you, and also a very warm welcome from my side today, ladies and gentlemen. Whether you're here or on the webcast, I thank you very much for being here today with us, spending time with us. I'd like to start briefly by introducing my colleagues, who will also be on the speakers' podium today. So starting with our interim CFO, Nicola Rotondo. Get up. I can't see you. You're not that tall. Joeri Durinckx, president of PCT. Dionys van de Ven, president of IXS, and Michael Berger, president of IXM. So they will join me on the podium later on, and especially as Woody mentioned before, you'll hear quite a lot about Synertia from Joeri later on. Now, it seems to be the case, just from experience, that it is darkest before the dawn.
So 2023 has been a very difficult year for us, not only for us, but the entire industry. Now, not to divert from this today, we focus today on the long-term outlook, and indeed, we see a very wide and long runway ahead. So growth opportunities are ahead. I will speak about four things today, filling out 3/4 of an hour. The agenda covers Comet at a glance. So for all of you here who are not too familiar with Comet, I'll give you a nutshell introduction to Comet, followed by our market trends and developments, then a glance at our strategy, and then I will close with some remarks on the outlook and our targets. So let's get started for real. Now, Comet, in a nutshell, is a group highly focused on two technologies, plasma control or RF power and X-ray technology, X-ray inspection.
We're fully committed to enable first and foremost, the semiconductor industry. We operate and go to market with three divisions, so PCT, Plasma Control, IXS, X-ray Systems, and IXM, X-ray Modules. The three divisions serve four principal end markets, however, with very clear focus, and I will repeat that on and on, during the day, on the semiconductor and electronics industry. PCT is a leader in RF power solutions with customers primarily in the front end, so the beginning of the semiconductor industry. IXS is a leader for high-end X-ray and CT system solutions, enabling, in principle, nondestructive testing in various industries, focused semiconductor, coming from aerospace, automotive, and also, kinda all sorts of lab applications. And so it is from R&D to production, right?
IXM is a leader for high-end X-ray sources for nondestructive testing of parts in industries such as, again, semiconductors, electronics, automotive, aerospace, as well as security inspection. Important, all three divisions have their main focus on the semiconductor industry, which is by far the group's main market in terms of revenue today, but also in the future. So we cover, with our three divisions, the entire value chain for the semi industry, and are positioned very clearly for growth. PCT, as mentioned before in the front end, where our key strategic move is forward integration, moving up the vertical, you know, starting from the vacuum capacitor to the matchbox, and now with Synertia, the full RF sub-assembly.
Both X-ray divisions focus on PCBA inspection, so printed circuit boards in the back end of the industry and in the middle of the whole value chain, we address the emerging opportunities of advanced packaging. I'll talk a little bit more about that later on. So with IXS on system level, with IXM on modules level, both independently as well as collaboratively. This presence along the entire value chain enables Comet to address some of the same customers with different technologies, benefiting from our good reputation that has been built up over the past 75 years. While both X-ray divisions continue to increase their semiconductor share of revenue, they continue obviously to profit from the legacy markets such as automotive, aerospace, and security. This will not change, and especially the automotive space and the growth of electric vehicles is a market where all divisions have a very interesting stake.
So firstly, the semiconductor content is rapidly increasing in such cars to the benefit of PCT. Secondly, fail-safe electronics is bringing business to both X-ray divisions. And thirdly, batteries are offering great business opportunities as well to the X-ray divisions. Now, you may ask, but why do our customers have a steadily increasing demand for our products? Now, for decades, chips scaled according to Moore's Law. You'll hear a lot about Moore's Law today, and Moore's Law is just about linearly on the surface, shrinking devices and interconnects. This approach is, however, increasingly, as you get smaller and smaller and smaller, facing a lot of challenges.
Over the past decade, new topologies and architectures to continue Moore's Law into the third dimension have been created, improving performance and power consumption per unit area of silicon, as well as reducing costs per device. Now, this integrated scaling approach to performance, power, area, as well as cost, is the current paradigm and has resulted in microprocessors and systems on chip with vastly superior performance, but all requiring more and more plasma, which is extremely good for us. In addition, this approach also requires new systems for quality testing to enhance product and process yields. This is the point where really superb opportunities arise, open up for both X-ray divisions, and the reason why we are also extremely happy to have all three divisions under one roof that target the same high-growth industry. Now, some figures.
Today, Comet generates around 65% of net sales in the division PCT, followed by IXS with 22% and IXM with 13%. So right about 2/3 from PCT and 1/3 from the X-ray divisions. All divisions command strong market positions. Plasma control technologies is a clear number one with vacuum capacitors and impedance matching networks, or in short, match boxes. And in a vastly more fragmented market, IXS is among the top three in all markets served, while IXM occupies an undisputed position as number one in metal ceramic X-ray tubes. To be close to our customers is very important in our industry. Therefore, we have a rather large global presence for the size of the company and generate most of our sales outside of Switzerland, even outside Europe, despite our headquarters in Switzerland and strong European footprint.
Now, the most important markets for the semiconductor and electronics industry are Asia and the U.S., with about 50% and 38% of group sales, respectively. Now, the large contribution from Asia is thereby not only due to Asian customers, but also to Western customers who have expanded their local presence in recent years. So in a, in a nutshell, this is, this is the Comet Group as we stand here today. So let's take a look at our markets, trends, and developments with a focus on semiconductors only. Now, why is Comet benefiting from today's trends in technology? Now, the current changes in technology require, as I mentioned before, more plasma processing and more X-ray inspection than ever before. 3D and nano semi structures are requiring better and more plasma processing, be it on the etch side or on the deposition side.
Heterogeneous integration or advanced packaging, or in short, AP, sets limitations to conventional inspection requiring X-ray CT to develop and control both processes and products. So basically, as you go 3D, go out of the plane, there are limitations to do optical inspection. You can't see inside, so what do you do? Well, use CT, use X-ray. And then finally, the electrification of our society, as exemplified with EVs, increases the need for fail-safe electronics and thus the demand for X-ray inspection. So in simple terms, Comet is sort of in a sweet spot with its technologies for enabling the digitization and electrification of our society. Now, digitization of society encompasses the widespread adoption of digital technologies and data-driven practices affecting how businesses operate, how we as people live and interact with technology, or how governments and organizations provide services.
Many applications, from AI to the Internet of Things, have one thing in common, and that is an outrageous appetite and need for silicon, resulting in a projected growth in semiconductor revenues from $574 billion in 2022 to the much talked about and fabulous $1 trillion in 2030. Now, despite the correction, despite the dip that we are going through in 2023. As part of this growth story, from humble beginnings in medical, starting in 1948, we expect to grow with our customers, our semi-related net sales to more than 80% of total group sales in the next three-five years. Obviously, the lion's share of this will come from PCT. However, both X-ray divisions will significantly increase their sales into the semi market. Now, why are we so confident about this?
Well, confidence comes, among other things, from the number of fabs or the factories where they churn out all the semiconductors that are under construction. Now, between 2022 and 2024, 82 new fabs will have been built and will come online or are already online. Kind of underlining, putting an exclamation point to the industry's confidence in forecasts for strong demand growth for microchips. Now, further growth will also continue till 2030, with a further estimated 100 new fabs that will be built. And with AI becoming the ultimate productivity tool for probably generations to come, this may even be conservative.
Now, in the short term, however, the ongoing market correction has turned the semi industry pretty much on its head, and this mentioned build-out has been slowed, impacting the order intake throughout the value chain, as we have seen this year. Now, clearly, with more favorable market conditions and improved balance of supply and demand for semiconductors in the not-too-distant future, a significant increase in incoming orders for equipment manufacturers and therefore also Comet is anticipated. Now for investments into wafer manufacturing equipment, so our market, this means for 2023, a significant decline expected to be around 12% and even higher if lithography is excluded. Return to growth is expected in 2024, as the increasing number of fabs coming online in 2024, and then also the ones that have been slowed and postponed in 2025 will have to be equipped.
Equipped, among other things, with products from Comet. Now, while the estimates vary widely, market observers agree that wafer fab equipment spend will increase significantly in the coming years, and another growth rate of 9% is forecast for the period from 2023 to 2027. So the foundation for future growth for all divisions, but especially for PCT products, has therefore been laid. So really good business ahead, and that is the reason why we are very confident. Also, our X-ray divisions have an equally good foundation with their focus on the semi market and especially advanced packaging of silicon devices. Advanced packaging offers several advantages over traditional packaging methods, especially as semiconductor devices become more complex and demand higher performance. Between 2022 to 2027, the AP market is forecast to grow by around 11% annually, so even faster than the wafer fab equipment market.
Growth is driven by the need for further miniaturization, so think about computing on the edge. Has to be very, very small... and also improve performance and cost efficiency. These needs make advanced packaging a major enabler for further performance gains in high performance computing, artificial intelligence, or in general, just smart devices. Market intelligence says that AP in or AP revenue will thereby surpass revenues from traditional packaging technologies in the next five years. What makes AP or advanced packaging highly attractive for X-ray inspection? Well, optical inspection, as I mentioned before, has been a very powerful tool over the past many, many, many decades, and used for quality assurance. This method, as mentioned, is sufficiently fast and powerful.
However, it does not provide three-dimensional insights, and as advanced packaging, sort of by definition, is using the third dimension, you stack those elements, there is no way that you can see inside, in between the different layers that you stack. So X-ray inspection will become a complementary method that provides actionable information for IC process development and process monitoring. Not to forget, one goal of our customers is to speed up time to market and increase yield. And inspection plays a very crucial role, especially within advanced packages, where there is more complexity and inspections are very, very much more challenging. Now, given PCT's existing exposure to many of the market leaders in advanced packaging, such as TSMC or Samsung or Intel, access to these customers through previous contacts by PCT, is vastly facilitated.
And therefore, again, it is godsend that we have all the three divisions under one roof. Now, let me not leave out developments causing uncertainty in our markets. And with the ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and China, but also armed conflicts, a rethinking has taken place in politics. Semiconductors are being considered as highly strategic, rightly so, and therefore, governments in the U.S., China, the E.U., and, and other countries have launched regulations and support programs to promote regional development of semiconductor production and expertise. What can result from this, clearly, is the creation of overcapacity, something that is not very much liked and usually is the start of, a downturn cycle, or in general, a misallocation of, of resources.
In addition, new regulations are constantly being created or modified, so this development creates, clearly, uncertainties in the entire semi ecosystem, probably one of the most globalized industries of all. For us, as well as for our suppliers and customers and their customers, this means to constantly think in scenarios and to prepare for, you know, possible shifts in the global semiconductor market. So far, we have coped very well with the effects of the different trade restrictions. It came as a shock, October last year, and caused quite a phase of confusion and also lowered revenues towards the end of last year. Of course, despite the fact that we have been coping well, we must keep an eye on the developments and deal with them proactively.
However, despite all the uncertainties, it should be noted that semiconductor production is in a structural growth phase. Investments around the globe are increasing as the U.S. and China, but also Europe, are making funding available for domestic semiconductor production, design, and research initiatives to localize the chip value chain, which is considered as so strategic. So accordingly, we see some short-term disruptions, but expect the opportunities that come from that, in our sector to outweigh the challenges for Comet. So to summarize, Comet is, is well-positioned in markets with a highly attractive growth profile. Our served available market, so on the right side, is expected to grow by 83% from 2022 to 2026, compared with the total available markets growth, on the left side, of 35%.
Now, a growing market penetration of Synertia and the focus of IXM, IXS and IXM on the semiconductor market are opening new revenue streams for Comet. These, obviously, are the ingredients of our success story. So with all that said, what's the strategy that we pursue to tap into this huge potential offered by our target markets? Now, before I get into this, what is, what is our goal? What do we want to achieve? Simply put, we want to become the undisputed market leaders, addressing our full potential in all verticals that we serve. So for PCT, the full plasma excitation and control chain. For IXS, CT systems, the best ones you can have, in order to address this emerging opportunity of advanced packaging inspection.
For IXM, the full X-ray source chain, from X-ray tubes to modules with a special focus on semiconductors. To get into the strategy, let's back up to 2019. Now, after a strategic review in 2019, we decided to pivot and focus, Comet, on the semiconductor industry. An industry, again, offering much higher growth rates and profitability than our traditional markets, like aerospace and automotive. Well, we defined measures driving us forward toward our medium-term goals for 2025, and bundled them into our Boost strategy program. Now, with today's Capital Markets Day, we can proudly point to, many achievements in the program, amongst others, the launch last year of the RF power platform, Synertia, or the successful divestment of the loss-making ebeam division, just to name a few.
We have achieved a large part of our goals in a market environment that was very challenging during the last years, especially also this year. Now, based on these achievements, taking into account the ongoing market correction, based on our expectations for the 2023 financial year, and lastly, our midterm plans and the market trends that I just talked about, we communicated today our adjusted midterm targets. Now, the new targets have a time horizon until the peak of the next semi cycle, which is estimated to be around 2027. But because the overall economic development and its impact on our industry is rather unpredictable, we refrain from giving a precise year for the next peak of the cycle.
We are, however, very, very confident to achieve, at the next peak, net sales of CHF 800 million-CHF 900 million, at an EBITDA margin of 25%-30%, and a return on capital employed of 30%-35%. Now, this reflects a slight increase of the midpoint of sales, EBITDA margin, and ROCE compared to our previous midterm targets. The targets are set, but how will we get there? Now, first and foremost, we reaffirm our strategy and focus on three main elements in the implementation. These are growth, efficiency, and culture. To accelerate and achieve aggressive growth going forward, we further expand our product portfolio with market-leading products to win our corresponding verticals in all three divisions. Or in other words, we very much invest into R&D and customer intimacy so that the R&D dollars are well invested.
Not less important are efficiency gains at all levels of the organization, with special attention on our customer focus. Nothing worse than spending a lot of money in R&D for products that customers don't ask for. So how do you know what customers need? You have to be very, very close to them, and that means you have to be out there in the world where the customers sit. And finally, we further promote a value-oriented corporate culture that reflects our three values of challenge and empower, customer focus, and trustful collaboration. Now, let me focus at individual elements of our strategy, starting with growth. Our growth strategy is, as I mentioned, aimed at expanding our share of wallets in the semiconductor industry with new leading products. In PCT, we focus on forward integration with Synertia and the Generation 3 Match.
We are driving market penetration with the major players in the industry, but also with regional champions in other, areas, such as, in Asia. Another dimension is, and that is a very important strategic move for us, is to reduce dependencies by broadening our customer base, regional reach, as well as market segments served. Specifically, we want to reduce our dependency on the memory market by gaining a higher share in the logic market. We want to become more balanced and thus perform much better in a downturn, and there will be future downturns again. The two X-ray divisions have common goals, expand the product portfolio for the semiconductor industry, penetrate the market with these products, while on the other hand, serving opportunistically the traditional market, so aerospace, automotive, as well as security for IXM.
For IXS, it is very important to focus on more profitable growth than in the past, and the semi market allows for this, especially advanced packaging, where the value add of X-ray inspection is much, much, much higher than, for instance, for castings in the car industry. For IXM, forward integration is key into the semiconductor chain and will be achieved with products offering better resolutions for the very demanding requirements of the semi industry. So the top priority for the entire group is growth in the semi market with a technologically leading portfolio close to the customer. Now, diving deeper into the critical success factors for growth, the central driver for the group has been the launch of PCT's Synertia platform, entering the market for high-frequency generators, a market worth approximately $1 billion at this point.
Together with our market-leading positions in vacuum capacitors and match boxes, Comet has become the only company in the industry that can deliver out of one hand, in-house developed and manufactured all three components that form an RF sub-assembly. Now, for our customers, this means that they can pretty much source all components for the generation and control of high-frequency power out of one hand from a single source. In other words, customers can rely on RF subsystems, with perfectly tuned components. You will hear a lot more, in a bit in Joeri's account on the PCT division. Now, while Synertia is a very important growth driver going forward, we should not forget the match box business, which is today the backbone, basically of PCT, but to a large extent, also Comet. And truly a stepping stone for PCT's forward integration strategy.
Now, with a very dynamic growth forecast, some years ago, we made the decision around 2019 to move our high volume match box production from San Jose, California, into a leased production space in Penang, Malaysia. This allowed PCT to serve more efficiently its customers while benefiting from best cost manufacturing in Malaysia. The initial site launched actually, its production in 2020, and after reaching full capacity utilization at the end of 2022, capacity was doubled by leasing yet another floor in the building where we are. Now, with the good experience made, we recently decided to plan a further expansion in Penang to meet the projected growth in demand over the next few years. Now, we recently acquired a plot of land in Penang and entered the planning phase for our own new building.
We are thereby not only examining further expansion for the assembly of match boxes, but also a second site to produce vacuum capacitors as a business continuity plan. Very important, in addition, looking forward, and towards 2030, we are planning Penang to be our main hub in Asia, a location for business activities and shared services for all three divisions. Now, growth is one element of the Comet investment plan. Another is efficiency and profitability. In 2023 has shown we are not yet able to maintain profitability at an acceptable level in a downturn. Strengthening Penang and expanding in best-cost regions is one, but not the only way to transform Comet into a more resilient, better performing, and scalable organization. In 2023, various measures to improve our efficiency and profitability were taken, probably too late.
So besides expanding Penang, we closed one site in the U.S. and consolidated four locations in San Jose into one to improve our structural costs. Workforce adaptations were implemented to adapt for the lower demand, as well as further lean activities were both initiated and implemented. 2023 has also shown that additional efforts will have to be taken to improve our resiliency, such as what I mentioned before, expanding our share in the logic market or streamlining our operational model and further pushing the digital transformation of the company. All these measures obviously require respect for the most valuable asset, our people. Attracting, retaining, and managing talent is as central to Comet's success as all the technical aspects of which you will certainly hear much more later on.
We must therefore not only digitize the company, but create a digital work culture, create and nurture our own talent pool, and further foster a learning culture to keep up to date with the latest knowledge. So our boost strategy framework focuses on growth, efficiency, and culture, but we want to do this in a responsible and sustainable manner. Therefore, a final element of our strategy is sustainability. The targets we have defined in the short to medium term, and they deal primarily with the use of electricity from renewable sources. By 2025, we want to achieve 80% electricity from renewables, and by 2030, 100%. These targets are just the first steps on the way to a net- zero world by 2050 at the latest, but preferably much earlier.
Now, with the eco design initiative, so creating products that consume less power, and the planned commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative, we will implement tools that will help us to define and implement measures to achieve our climate-related goals. All in all, we see ourselves well on track to making sustainability an integral part of our business to tackle the large challenges of net- zero ahead of us. Although we focus and talk very much about climate and, and climate targets in our sustainability program, there are other aspects of ESG, and they are not left out. We believe we are already rather well-positioned in the social as well as the governance dimension, having launched various programs in the last few years. And thereby, let me especially point out our focus on occupational health and safety, which are firmly anchored in the organization.
So in summary, I can say that we are continuing to implement the focus strategy defined in 2019 with all our strength, and have already numerous successes and great results. We believe we are on the right track, and we understand that adjustments must and will be further made to become stronger, more resilient, and also more successful in every possible market environment, also downturns. Now, this brings me to the outlook and our targets. Now, market indicators and we live and die by market indicators in many ways suggest that the semiconductor market has recently bottomed out and is resuming its growth path, although for now, currently at a very modest pace.
As shown in the graph, inventories, in this example, NAND memory, have been reduced along the entire value chain, and as a result, demand for semiconductor devices has slightly risen again on a month-to-month basis. Another sign is the forecast on the supply and oversupply of NAND devices in H1 2024, which in previous cycles has proven to be a good indicator of a turnaround in the market, and therefore, also for investments in new equipment, which is where the incoming orders come to us. Forecasts assume that NAND components will change from oversupply to undersupply in the first half of next year, and for DRAM chips, or the other sort of memory, a reversal is expected one or two quarters earlier, which means that our business will certainly improve over the course of 2024. So with all said so far this morning, we firmly believe in our growth story.
We published our forecast for 2023 in the Q3 trading update a few weeks ago. Now, given the unexpected strength and duration of the ongoing correction, 2023 is a transitional year. The medium-term targets for 2025, communicated in 2019, are being adjusted, as I mentioned earlier today, slightly upwards and postponed. At the peak of the next semi cycle, again, estimated to be around 2027, we expect net sales of CHF 800 million-CHF 900 million, an EBITDA of 25%-30%, and a ROCE of 30%-35%. Again, due to all the macroeconomic uncertainties, we've refrained from indicating when the peak exactly is going to be. 2027 may be a good bet.
Now, beyond this time horizon, we want to continue our growth strategy and develop Comet into a company that will generate net sales of over CHF 1 billion before the end of this decade. The instruments, the organization, are in place, and the implementation of the existing strategy, with additional measures, is key to achieving this goal, and we are working on that. So with this, I will close my part of the presentation or the, my part of this morning, and hand over to my CFO, Nicola Rotondo. Thank you very much for your patience for my long presentation, and I believe we will take a Q&A later on. Thank you. Nicola, please.
I'm going. So good morning to all, also from my side. Happy to be here and to guide you through the financials, but before that, let me share some personal considerations. I started at Comet in 2010, so just a couple of years later than you, Stephan. And since then, actually, we have seen many things. Most of them went well, some of them did not. However, if you look at it from a long-term perspective, we can say that the evolution was quite impressive when it comes to sales, profit, returns, and share price development. Now, does this make us happy? First reaction would be, yes, of course. Second reaction is, yes, but, and what I mean with that is that we have not yet found the right setup to manage those recurring semi downturns.
That means that besides R&D, business development, market penetration, we want to further deepen operational excellence to become more robust and more resilient to manage those recurring downturns. Having said that, let's go into the finances. Stephan just talked about those targets. I'm not going to repeat them word by word, but basically what this shows is, on one hand, we have adjusted them a bit upwards, and it shows our commitment still to the strategic goals that we did communicate back in 2019. What is important for me to say, to repeat what Stephan said, basically, we want to reach those targets at the peak of the next cycle, so we do not stick to a specific year. Basically, he based on the underlying assumptions that you see on the chart.
So this is our commitment at the end of, at the peak of the cycle. Now, with that, let's go and see the making of those targets. Now, this chart, you can see nicely the evolution of our top line since the last 10 years. And from 2012 to 2017, you see that we increased our share in semi. That happened basically by PCT, mainly going up the value chain, so from capacitor into the matchbox business, and that was the main driver for, for that steep increase that you see in that period. After that, between 2017 and 2022, we further increased that share, and that was driven by the strategy, focus on semi, that we did announce back in 2019. And so since then, also for IXM and IXS, those markets became more and more relevant. What's next to come?
PCT, of course, they will continue to grow according to market trends, and in addition, with Synertia, they are going further up the value chain. Also for IXM and IXS, they are going to increase the share in those markets. At the end, we are targeting a value above 80% in those focus markets. In summary, what you see here is really the transformation of the company towards high volume and very profitable markets that we did achieve based on our traditional core competencies. I think it was really a nice transformation that we have seen in the last 10 years, and that will continue. What does that mean for profit and return? How did this sales increase, how was that reflected in our profit and returns?
If you look at the EBITDA margin, you see that from 2017, actually, the curve is getting steeper. Why that? That is basically driven by the increase of those markets being semi and electronics, which have, by definition, the higher profits compared to the traditional markets. Now, while it is good to look at EBITDA margin, at the end of the day, what counts is that we are generating high and sustainable returns. Those we are focusing on the KPI ROCE, which is also part of the long-term incentive plan of our top management. And what you see here is that back in 2012, actually, we did perform very badly, not even covering our cost of capital of 9%. And after that, started to increase, started to increase, to achieve in 2022, a value that is above the top quartile of our peer companies.
I think that was quite an impressive evolution when it comes to return. Our aim is to further increase that value, to further increase the ROCE, and with the target that we have set, we are convinced to generate high and sustainable returns, in fact, covering the cost of capital almost four times . Now, how is the divisional contribution related to those targets that we have seen? We have made, of course, a detailed bottom-up planning on one hand, compared that also with the overall market trends that are relevant for our company, and the outcome is what you see here. When it comes to sales, the shares of the divisions in the top line actually will not change dramatically compared to 2022. That means, in other words, that the divisions are assumed to grow at a similar pace during this next period.
When it comes to EBITDA and return, also there, basically, the picture is not going to change fundamentally, compared to today. Of course, IXS, they are going, of course, to recover from their rather low values that they had in 2022, and with that, also give a significant contribution to the overall increase. Sorry for my voice. Now, while the presidents are going to talk in detail about the drivers, that they have in their divisions to increase profit, what you see here on this waterfall chart is the consolidated view for the group. Let me start with the adjusted number of the year 2022. As you remember, we had, quite a high cost related to the trial expenses in 2022.
If we are normalizing this, we start with 21.8, so that's the starting point of the margin increase. Thank you. So that's the starting point, and the main increase, of course, is volume-driven, that is going to happen. And in that volume, of course, the main increase coming from PCT, having a share of 60%-70% of the top line. As an addition to that, we are going to have this time in the next upturn, we are going to benefit from our facility in Malaysia in the full extent for matchbox production. So that will also yield an improvement compared to historical values. And in addition to that, in the divisions, the ongoing lean activities that they have will also further boost the EBITDA margin.
On the other hand, as a tech company, we want to further invest in product development, basically to capitalize on all the opportunities, at least on some of those opportunities, that Stephan just talked about, and that the divisions are going to talk about. Next to that, and also that was mentioned, market development is key, right? So we want to be close to our customers, because that is really key to bring our new developed products then into the market. And so all in all, what we can say is that, yes, the increase in EBITDA margin looks challenging on one hand. On the other hand, based on the bottom-up plan that we did, we are feeling quite comfortable to really achieve those improvements that we have listed here.
Now, coming to some further KPIs, which we do not explicitly guide for, but are an integral part of our financial model. So what we see here are our two main investment areas, actually. So it's CapEx, and it is R&D, or in other words, our capital allocation. Let's start with CapEx. CapEx, we are anticipating a bit an elevated level compared to historical values, and that is driven by the fact that besides the recurring capacity enhancement and replacement spends that we are going to have, we are going to add the facility and the related equipment, that we are going to need for Penang. So that will be a major area of spend in the next coming years. And that we need a new building is actually a very good news.
I remember back in 2019, when we, on one hand, announced the divestment of ebeam, and then had basically the building expansion in Flamatt. We were asked: What will be your capacity utilization of that building in 2025? Then we said, "Likely, we are going to have still idle space." The fact that we are now going to build a building in Flamatt basically means that we are going to run out of space in Flamatt earlier than anticipated. So that's basically the good news. The other good story here is that we are adding, for the first time, substantial production capacity outside of Switzerland, and this is helping us also in rebalancing a bit our currency exposure.
Another main investment area in the next coming years will be our ERP upgrade, and Stephan touched a bit related to the password, digital transformation, digital agenda. To achieve that, basically, a new ERP is the cornerstone of that, and we are convinced that we can really leverage there a lot of potential in further automating all our back office processes that we have across all locations. You have to imagine that our current ERP, we did introduce back in 2009, 2010. Stephan, we were part of that exercise, right? And that is still in place and does not have all these automation features that are now available. So with that move, we really believe to increase efficiency also in all back office areas. Let's now go to R&D.
There, basically, we are committed to fund R&D at the same level as we did today, historically, in terms of ratio to sales. That is really our commitment. We are a technology company. That is basically our core, and that we want to keep. That means our product portfolio is going to continuously change, of course. If we look at some statistics that we have done, we can say that within five years, roughly 50% of our top line is generated by new products. I think this really shows our technological leadership in that field. Now, coming to some balance sheet KPIs, and before even talking about those, basically, let me say that right away, they are in a very good shape, really good shape.
I mean, if you look at the equity ratio, we never went below 50%, huh? And so that is signaling strength and solidity of the company. Next to that, cash, also, that is at very good levels. And, as you know, cash is the oxygen that you need to act in an independent way, regardless in which market situation you are. And also at very good level is the ratio net debt to EBITDA, very low, historically very low, and also going forward, we are going to keep that quite low. And now add to this, our revolving credit facilitat-- credit facility that we have, and you can see that we have really ample access to cash. So to summarize here, we have a very strong balance sheet implying a rather low risk profile, and this we want to keep going forward.
Then some further relevant KPIs that are cash-related KPIs, mainly. We also have a focus on those. They did reach in 2022, I would say, good levels, and they are going to recover as soon as the semi-upturn will kick in again. That's basically an introductory statement. So net working capital ratio, we want to also, going forward, a target range of roughly 20%. I think we believe this is a good level to be at. Then capital employed turnover, so basically, half of the equation of the return on capital employed, of course. Here, considering the rather elevated CapEx spend that we are going to have in the next coming years, our minimum target is to be at the upper end of our historical values. That's our minimum target.
Ideally, we would, even in that phase, be able to, to improve that, but our minimum target is really to be at the higher end of our historical levels that we had. And last but not least, or basically almost the most important one, free cash flow. Free cash flow ratio, measured in percentage of sales. There, based on our increasing sales volume, we are targeting a value that should be at least above 10%. So that's basically what we are targeting, and that is also allowing us, after having paid for third-party finance, financing, services, this is allowing us to keep a stable dividend payout ratio, which is, for us, very important. Which brings me to the very last KPIs.
So at the end of the day, all what we have seen, at the end, it should be reflected in increasing dividends and increasing share price, right? So when it comes to dividend, we still want to target that range that we had historically and also made publicly available. That is basically what we want to keep going forward. And what you can see here is that historically, we never went below that range. So that really shows a strong commitment to what we say. On the right-hand side, what you see there is basically economic profit. And while ROCE is good to look at, to compare with other companies in terms of benchmark, ultimately, the proxy to measure value creation in an absolute term is economic profit.
And those, during our yearly strategic reviews, we always look at by how much are we going to increase economic profit in order to assess if our plan is appealing to the investor community. And my take on this is the following: considering the sales growth that we are anticipating, that is going to further boost the economic profit, those we are convinced that this is an appealing plan, and I'm sure that you do appreciate this. With that, I come to the very last slide, and I summarize with one sentence: So we don't only have all ingredients in place, as you said, Stephan, we also have the right financials in place to execute on our strategy in any given market situation. And with that, I conclude my part, and I thank you very much for your interest in our company.
Thank you, Stephan, Nicola. Before we continue with the divisions, we'll have a short break, and I will continue the presentations at 10:45 A.M., so in a little bit more than 10 minutes.
Good morning, everybody. I'm pleased to present to you how Division IXS can continue to grow through technical leadership and innovation. With new innovative products, we will want to be able to expand our product portfolio into new high-growth markets. To achieve this, it's important to know the industry trends as well, to adopt them then also in our product portfolio roadmap. The two big trends that we want to cover as a group is digitalization as well as electrification. The global trends in terms of X-ray inspection can be well assigned to these both trends: future mobility, high automation, cloud and edge computing, and machine learning as a service.
Derived from these trends, we see the following trends, in particular for nondestructive testing, to which X-ray contributes. The demand for highly increasing components and assemblies is high. In many cases, components cannot be longer manufactured by using traditional manufacturing processes, like casting, molding, or form from solid material, but are producing using 3D printing processes. Batteries used in mobility solutions must be tested, as defects in the manufacturing process can lead to fire. Electronic assemblies and the intricate components are becoming smaller and smaller, and the packaging density is increasing. The production process for manufacturing such components and, and, assemblies is becoming more and more complex and error-prone. Therefore, a nondestructive testing is essential. Such measurements should be carried out as quickly as possible to not influence the production capacity. Therefore, they should be integrated into a production line.
The collected data should be then automatically evaluated in real time. Defective and incorrect parts should be automatically ejected, and the necessary correction for correcting errors, errors should be then automatically reported back to the fab line. For all these trends just described, there is a job to be done in terms of X-ray inspection, which is a necessary condition for nondestructive X-ray inspection to be carried out. The smaller and smaller defects have to be detected and detected. New materials and also multilayers have to be X-rayed. The inspection has to be done as fast as possible. The equipment should be in operation around the clock, and the maintenance should be planned and predicted with not having to shut down the system unplanned.
In order to be able to offer our customers solution that helps them to fulfill the job to be done, the resulting requirements should be then integrated in our product portfolio roadmap. I would like to show you which trends we have adopted in the production roadmap and which transformation with regard to the solution portfolio in new markets we have already made and will to continue to make. We have worked existing portfolio in such a way that we can continue to serve the existing customer and markets with new products, and defend our position as number one by increasing both lifetime and performance. Since the start of the current strategy cycle, we have invested a lot in the development to transform our portfolio into new market, be it electronic and semi market and battery.
With new products such as open microfocus X-ray tube, as well as the MesoFocus X-ray tube. By 2025, we would like to be entered the semi market with the open nanof ocus X-ray tube, called FYNE, and to enter the electronic, as well the battery market, with the integrated system in the nano and micro focus range, called Explorer. The new product, launched in 2021, as shown on the previous page, will contribute at least 41% in expanded sales—expected sales this year. The following years, in the following years, we would like to be able to further expand this share.
Today, we assume in 2026, we will be able to generate more than half of our revenue from the new products we have launched since the last two years and will continue to do so. In the following, let me show you where we want to play and where we find ourselves in the market and production segmentation in terms of strategic focus market at the present time. We have set ourselves four strategic areas with regard to the implementation of the strategy. First, push into the semi. Second, expand our product portfolio to enter the battery and electronic market. Third, expanding portfolio to improve our margin in the existing end market such as automotive, aerospace, and security. And fourth, build up cost centricity in Asia.
All this with the goal to remain number one in the market of metal-ceramic X-ray tubes, as well as to transform our product portfolio in that way that we can improve our current position in the new markets and become number one or number two. It's important to be as close as possible to the customer, especially for the battery, electronic, and semi market. Asia plays a central role. Therefore, we have increased our presence in Asia in the last two years with the goal to be as close as possible to the semi market. We have established a shared commercial support team together with our colleagues from Comet Yxlon. For the battery market in Korea, we have built up a sales and support team and hired a market segment manager for China.
To further penetrate the electronic market, we have established a sales force in Japan and strengthened our team in China. Let me go now into more detail about the new product we have launched in the last two years in the market. First of all, I would like to introduce you to MesoFocus. We have developed MesoFocus for in-line battery and cell pack inspection, additive manufactured components for aerospace and automotive, and third, in-line inspection for dense material and small feature to be detected, for example, turbine blades for aircraft. MesoFocus is a unique technology that will help to drive growth and improve our margin. We expect to grow with MesoFocus by 125% in 2023 compared to 2022, and further anticipate that we will be able to double our sales with this product family in the following years.
This year, we were able to win the innovative prize of the Canton of Fribourg with MesoFocus. In the following, let me show you a short film about MesoFocus to introduce you this technology in much more detail. Another important product family that will contribute strongly to increase in sales this year is an open microfocus X-ray tube. On one hand, these are used in the automotive and aerospace industry to find smallest defect. On the other hand, we have been able to grow strongly with this product family, especially in the electronic market in Asia. With the open nanofocus X-ray tube currently under development, we will help Comet Yxlon to enter the semi market. The start of industrialization is planned for 2024. We expect this product family to contribute at least 45% of the new product mix in 2023.
However, it's also important to be able to continue to maintain our position as number one in our home market. Therefore, we have developed tubes that have a 33% higher performance compared to the X-ray tube we have today on the market, and allow up to 25% shorter exposure time. This with a great advantage for our customer, that of allowing them to make faster inspection, to increase throughput, but also to allow them to operate and schedule maintenance more efficiency. With the XP and UP product series, we can further expand our market position as number one in the stationary metal-ceramic tube market. We were able to launch first prototypes this year and have achieved a market acceptance by several OEMs.
The full product range is planned in the roadmap dedicated to outline and in-line CT application for components in automotive and aerospace industry. With this remark, I have come to the end of my presentation. The highlighted initiatives today will enable us to be the powerhouse of X-ray in the future. I would like to hand over now to my colleague, Dionys. Thank you very much for your interest. I will be happy to answer any question at the end. Thank you much!
Good morning, everybody. Today, it's a lot about the future, and it is also Future Day. So I also would like to welcome some youngsters in the room because they might become an investor over time, they might become a peer in the business, and they even might work for us. So, for the youth in the room. Having said that, also for IXS, it's all about the future. And we are actually in a position already mentioned by Stephan, that because of Moore's Law, you come into a situation that items are changing in the semiconductor world. Everything continuously has to be smaller and smaller, and writing smaller lines becomes very difficult. So that's why 3D advanced packaging becomes a standard. And to be able to look to the quality of products, new inspection technologies are needed.
I'm going to give you some insights on how we actually are going to support this trend. It is all about making our customers win in their own market, and therefore, we will win. So it's about seeing things better. For instance, with a great imaging chain from IXM, Comet X-ray. Seeing things faster by integrating software solutions that give information quicker, can be material handling, can be also data handling. And seeing things more, seeing all defects that are actually in a standard black-and-white image, not at the first glance, visible. So seeing better, faster, more, that's what we're gonna deliver. Last year, I talked about these three priorities, and this year I can actually share where we actually really have gained progress with these priorities. So it's all about customer experience. For us, that means be there where the market is.
For us, it also means that work with market leaders to actually serve them, because then they enjoy the tool, the solution that you have created. Invest in insights. As already mentioned, just a black-and-white image is not good enough. Giving insights into a product without destroying it, nondestructive testing, is key in this business to improve productivity, to improve ramp-up time for a new product to be released in the semiconductor world. And that, at the end, results in two things: profitability for our customers and a profitability improvement for IXS. So where are we? To reconfirm that we are on the right track, you can look to how the markets are developing. Traditional markets like aerospace, automotive, as well as labs and R&D, they are interesting, but where it really is interesting for us is in the semiconductor world.
So tuning our company towards the semiconductor challenge makes still great sense, and in 2026, where the market is growing with 123% compared to now, that's where we are going to play. Now, we do that by investing where the market is. Already mentioned, the location is very vital, close to your customer, understanding their challenge. So over the last year, we strengthened our sales, service, and application teams in Asia. We see investment rising, actually, in Europe and as well the U.S., and we continue to invest in that. And this year, and even in the beginning of next year, our Southeast Asia presence will be enlarged. Why? Because there, really, this new technology is already inside products, and that's why we have to be there. So, as mentioned, we are in transition, so the market is the right market.
We have transitioned our product portfolio towards this market. We have invested in the sales, service, and application teams to actually deliver this best customer experience. Maybe you remember that we acquired, some time ago, a team in Canada, ORS. We have integrated this team. What is this? This is actually the key to success. I'm gonna repeat this, just a black-and-white image of a volume does not do the trick. Getting data out of this black-and-white image, getting insights where our customers can make decisions on, that's vital. The Dragonfly software and the team associated with this, from a standalone software solution, as well as integrated in workflows for our systems, will help our customers to make these decisions faster. We enable them to see things that they could not seen before.
One of my slides later in the deck will give you really this fact-based information, where we see what we're doing. Now, we, as you might know, work very closely with one of the market leaders in the semiconductor world, and we are increasing our install base with them. That's a very good sign that we have a tool that they like. The second bullet that you see here, we get testimonials like, "I have never seen bumps like this," or, "We finally get the insights we need in minutes." Next week, Tuesday, we're going to launch the first full semiconductor system on the Productronica in Munich. That's, for us, a major milestone, that we actually help our co-creator to do what they need to do.
In a traditional world, where still a lot of destructive testing is happening because you cannot look inside, and making the transition to a nondestructive volume opportunity, and what I mean with volume is they look not to a slice, but to a volume, a space inside the wafer. We give the information that they need to improve yield, to improve also, productivity, and time to market. Now, we talked in this presentation of Stephan a lot already around the trends, and I'm repeating some of them. It's getting smaller and smaller, and because of not able to write smaller lines, it goes into the 3D dimension. X-ray is especially suited for that because it gives the ability to look inside of this volume. With the information that we can create, we can become faster for the customer to make decisions.
We make them actually faster to make them decisions already in the R&D process, as well as during the ramp-up phase for their production. Having said that, delivering insights creates with foresight and the possibility to drive zero defects, and that's key for this market. We have facts, it's publicly available, that at this moment, wafer stacks are delivered to customers with a yield between 50% and 80%. When you have a wafer that costs sometimes even CHF 20,000 per wafer, and you build 52,000 of that per quarter, and you have that type of yield, the problem is really there. Now, they cannot do that differently at this moment. They have to produce because the customers wait on product, and having the ability to look inside such a volume will drive zero defect.
That's what we are going to offer, and we are going to launch on Tuesday, next week. I know you all waited very long on this transition, so I'm very happy actually that we can show something that is alive and kicking. It creates, maybe, from your side, some confidence that we are on the right track. I'm gonna talk now in one slide about killer defects and why X-ray is so important. On the left side, you see defects that are typically in a 3D assembly, package available. In a natural, I would say, current, ecosystem, people look, what Stephan mentioned, with optical equipment through these defects, but when you cover the defect with another product, it's very difficult to look at.
Of course, you can make a slice with a FIB-SEM and then look inside, but that takes, I would say, a significant amount of time, up to seven days. And not only that, you destroy the product. So optical often is related to destroying the product, and it gives you information on a certain position in a wafer, and when you see that it is good, it does not mean that it is good. You are just looking at the position where something was good. The opposite is also true. With traditional X-ray, you can actually look into from a 2D perspective to the top side, for instance, for a part, but then you have to interpret what you see. And with a 3D solution, you can actually see the whole volume, and that's where the profitability lies.
Because then you suddenly see, by not destroying a wafer, by being in a lab or maybe even being at line at the customer in the fab, you get results quicker that have valuable information to improve your process. Now, in the next slide, you can see a little bit what happens during this production process and why it requires new test strategies. On this image, you see all balls are nicely straightened and correct, but when they apply heat in the manufacturing process, you see some balls, bumps skewed, some balls get voids, some voids are actually not with the right interconnect. So here, for instance, you see a highlighted void. You see what they call in this business, a Head in p illow. It looks like somebody's sleeping on a pillow. This is skewed, and here there's something tilt. So why is this important?
If you have a bad interconnect and you drive with your car that has advanced quality system, safety security systems in it, like ABS, and you go over a bump and such an interconnect loses, then your car makes maybe the wrong decision. Same for your smartphone. It's a big investment. It's an expensive tool. You drop it, and it breaks. You don't want that. So that's why quality of these products is very important, but at the end, it drives customer experience of the end user. Now, with our software and our solutions, we actually can create statistics while you do the production, while you do the R&D. You create not only the statistics, but you also give information back that you learn from the quality of the product.
You can store that, and by overlaying traditional inspection systems on the information you find from X-ray, you make then a better decision. And the decision can be improving, not only in what do you need to do in your production at this moment, but gives you also information to improve foresight, information into your design. So what needs to be changed in the design to drive zero defects? So X-ray is a magnificent tool to look into the volume of a chip, a 3D package, without breaking it. Look into every area that you want to look at, and improve your production, and drive zero defects. Now, at the beginning of my pitch, I talked a little bit about Dragonfly software. And what you see on this imagery, on the top line, you see a comb.
A hair approximately is 100 microns, so the thickness of your hair is 100 microns, and we have now the ability to look into 60 microns, 30 microns. We do studies even going further, 6-micron balls, 12-micron pitch. Now, when you have all that information, traditionally, you would see, I would say, the left lower corner. You see circles that are balls, and you see some defects in it. But when you put something on top, it all gets blurry. You do not know where the problem is. With the Dragonfly software, we can create the images on the top and on the right side of this image. For maybe people like us, it's not so easy to understand what's going on there, but it makes it visible where the void is. It makes it visible where your tilt is or where your head and pillow problem exists.
And this, with the Dragonfly software, integrated in the workflow, you get this information almost real time. So from up to seven days FIB-SEM, you go to 25, 15 minutes in X-ray without destroying the part. Having said that, driving zero defects, having a tool that is ready for this market to be implemented in their production, in their R&D labs, we are fully dedicated to deliver this inspection solution to this market, and we will drive not only zero defects, but also profitable growth. Thank you very much. With that, I would like to give the words to Joeri.
Thank you, Dionys, for the nice introduction. So good morning, everybody. Ladies and gentlemen, dear guests, investors, as I'm standing here as the last person between you and the lap of rich, this knowledge sharing day, we found ourselves what I deem the grand finale, the last presentation. Of course, of course, a small Q&A. The semiconductor market is a really exciting market to be part of. It changes our everyday lives in so many ways, whether it's in our homes, whether it's in healthcare, not even to mention the electrification of cars, autonomous driving, and so forth. I will talk about where our market is going. I will also translate this and how this translates in exceptional growth for PCT.
What we've achieved since the strategy was implemented, what we've learned also from that, because I think it's important to look back. And then last but not least, what we need to do to achieve exceptional shareholder return going forward. With that, I want to do a quick summary. PCT started back with vacuum capacitors for radio technologies in the past. As Stephan already mentioned, we then did a forward-looking integration into matching networks, and the next step in the evolution is, of course, moving towards the generator platform, which allows us to truly become a fully integrated RF subsystem supplier. But we've not only done a me-too solution, we've created a leading-edge, smart, data-driven platform, which as of today, based on the feedback of our customers, really is creating new standards of what an RF subsystem delivery system should mean.
It's the only platform today which truly allows you to do real time inside in the chamber what is going on with your plasma. And when Stephan and Dionys are talking about smaller, smaller features, it becomes much more critical in order to have that data available. As you can see, PCT, we're active really in two sides of the business. One is the component market, vacuum capacitors. The other side is the RF subsystem, where we deliver the match box, and we have this Synertia platform, too. Looking where we are today with that market, it's proud to say that with our match boxes, we have 40% market share. With our vacuum capacitors, we have 70% market share. We also, by continuously investing in R&D, have created a lot of IP behind.
We have 120 active patents, and we continue to invest, and that results in a ratio of approximately one new patent every month for the moment. So that just gives you an indication that the heavy focus on the technology, the data-driven insight, is yielding off. And that then, of course, translates also in design wins, because we continue to work, co-create with our customers, not only to protect existing market share, but also to gain future market share. And in 2023, we actually have achieved 43 design wins, of which approximately half are on vacuum capacitors, which then go into specific match boxes for all our customers. The other half is in our match boxes itself, and I will show you a little bit more later. But we actually have four real design wins today, also with Synertia.
And the people who do that, and that just gives an indication of the scale of investment in technology and future roadmap that we're doing. We have 175 engineers in R&D, which continue, of course, to create these design wins and achieve those IP, which I think is a very strong position to be going forward. I also wanted to take a quick step back in regards of the strategy for 2019. There were really three pillars where it was based upon. One was market share and share of wallet. As Stephan spoke already about it, we had to do a lot more work in regards of customer intimacy. How do we co-create with our customers? How do we work together with them?
How do we make sure that we stay so close that for the next technology inflection, they choose Comet instead of a competitor? And that, of course, when you do that right, and you do that not only with a tier one, but you do that with multiple customers, will give us, in the future, that resilience against those semi cycles and be less dependent on memory, too. I can share a little bit more about that later. In regards to product portfolio, there was a strategy in regards to forward integration. With Synertia, we've created that fully modular platform. With Synertia, we've created the engine also to translate that into our next generation match.
So those two combined will give the most powerful RF subsystem that is today on the market, that only does not allow us to be a modular platform, but also data-driven, which is unprecedented today. Just to give an example, the best-in-class RF subsystem today that doesn't talk to each other, has a millisecond sampling rate. Our real-time FPGA-based, data-driven insight, we talk about nanoseconds. When we speak to customers, that's the point that they say, same like the onus with getting the insight, "This is really the first time that we can see in the plasma, see what is happening," and we show them graphs where they say, "We think there is something wrong with your generator." And we actually tell them, "No, it is the first time that you're able to see it.
It always was there." So I think, the innovation and IP that is behind is extremely strong, and we've been able to execute on it. And then last but not least, the Asia presence. We've established the Asian design center in Korea to be closer to the customer. Not only do we support our Asian installed base, we've also expanded it because of the way they work, the communication and the integration with the other teams, in order to support, where is needed, European tier two, and also because of that, we were able to achieve some design wins. We've established a second China sales office, which I think is important. Taiwan sales and service to be closer to our end customers. The Penang manufacturing, which was already extensively spoken about, which was a great success, and I'll talk a little bit more.
But more important, what the Penang facility did is it forced us to move the supply chain also to Asia, which when we think about the future plot of land and the expansion, we now have a rock-solid basis to build upon. So from that point on, I think also great achievement. One of the questions you probably will ask, so I thought, let's anticipate it: How do we make PCT a little bit more resilient towards the future? How do we make PCT more future-proof, more flexible, more scalable? And actually, one of the things that I think went wrong, how do we respond faster to the semi cycles? So with that, we took a couple of corrective actions. We're going to improve the top model, like Stephan already mentioned before.
For global effectiveness, we're going to flip the organization, do a different setup, and we will start to roll that out starting January. And to combined with that, we're going to also optimize our whole primary process flow so that we have a much more lean end-to-end process, where also our cycle times with the customers become shorter, our interactions with the customers become shorter, and we stay much more closer to the business, what's going on. Customer intimacy is a large focus area from my side, personally. I think if you work closely with the customer, and you develop all customers, not only one or two, you can become much more resilient for the future.
I think with the Synertia update later, you will see that in the last nine months, we've put a lot of effort in that to ensure that our customer interaction and install base is expanded so that we in the future, we will see less dependency on memory. Last but not least, looking back to the past, I think some of our manufacturing sites are, they are world-class, but they are not best in class when we think about Industry 4.0 and leading-edge, fully automated manufacturing. We have a high-end manufacturing site in Aachen, where we've implemented for the Synertia platform, all those capabilities. We just want to expand those capabilities across our other sites, even up to the vacuum capacity manufacturing. While we're planning for the Penang facility, we're already taking that into account.
So I think with those three major actions, you will see step by step a function improvement over the next coming years, so that not only Comet, but PCT specific, becomes way more resilient and is able to respond to the market trends much faster. Talking a little bit about plasma specifically, some of you I spoke with during the break already. I think there is no secret in regards of the trends which are going on. We talk about AI, the buzzword of the future, but AI is really going to be one of the breakthrough technologies which we'll see in the next coming years. We don't have enough people. The working force is degrading. Climate change is impacting overall efficiency of resources in the high-efficiency regions, like Northern Europe and America, so we, by default, need to get to way more automated processes.
Just to give an example, in order to drive AI, we need 5x more GPUs in order to collect all the data. These GPUs, like Dionys said, have a lot of yield issues. We need to move to chiplet technologies, and that then drives, again, more need for NAND and more need for memory. So this has a whole chain of consequences, just of the fact, global warming, not enough resources, graying society, that will accelerate the whole AI. There is a vision that in the future, every device that we touch, whether it's Internet of Things, which is one of the next things that is on the list, will have a future AI chip in it, and there are people that are working on that to enable that.
So the scale of what you will see and the growth that will come, I think $1 trillion is easy achievable, 2030-ish, like I said. And last but not least, autonomous driving, huge growth driver. Two years ago, $500 worth of chips in a car, projected to be growing up to 2027. I believe it's somewhere $2,500 per car. In a stable market, that's still a 5x growth in regards of content, which needs to go in. I think it's very clear the number of teraflops goes up when we go from Level 1 autonomous driving to Level 5 autonomous driving. We speak about a scale of 1,000-10,000 increase in regards of capabilities, so just that will also drive a huge content.
But how does it drive, how does it translate for us? Dionys and the team were talking about scaling down. We used to be in the nano area. We're moving in the front-end semiconductor in what we call the Angstrom area. Much more tinier scale. Much more tinier scale means that we move to really single level atomic layers in the devices. So now one critical arc in the plasma can damage the device, hence why new processes are needed. It will also, everything what I said, drive a change in the processes. The good news is for us, that all those processes are RF plasma-based. So that will result in much more RF content going forward.
So looking at the growth from a trends perspective, we see a 50% growth by 2027, probably a $1 trillion market by the year 2030, 2030-ish. When we move from nano to angstrom, you see that the complexity goes, not only goes up, but the number of layers in a specific device go up from 178 layers today, up to 380 layers tomorrow, and all those layers require way more RF. By the way, the most complex device today is up to 1,000 layers. So just to give an example, when we talk about 2 nm technology, high-end, that's just, an absurd amount of layers that needs to go in. That will translate in WFE of 6.5% for all the related equipment.
That gives then for us an opportunity because the CAGR for RF subsystems will grow with 7.5% going forward. We are extremely well-positioned with Synertia because we have a platform that enables the data-driven insight, that gives you the super fast response times, that gives you the first time real-time insight in the plasma. So we're ready to support the change in the technology going forward with this. When we look a little bit back in time, I think around 2017-ish, the idea got generated in regards of developing a platform based, and that I think people underestimate the value in that. No other competitor today has a fully-fledged, scalable platform, which is truly modular. We use all the same components in every generator. We just multiply them.
That alone gives for our competitor, for our customers, a unique value because the matching chamber to chamber, equipment to equipment, independent from this power supply, can be way more efficient. We also had to develop an infrastructure around it, which is called smartLAB. You cannot be playing in an era of IoT data-driven technology if you don't truly have a fully data-driven platform. That data-driven platform requires smart labs. We've established that already in Flamatt. We have that already in Aachen, too, where we basically can connect, collect all the data and work around that. We have established in Aachen, a truly 4.0-ready manufacturing site, fully integrated manufacturing, fully integrated device testing with full back traceability. We did the product launch in 2022 with Synertia, and in the meantime, we did a lot of great product presentations.
But I think what a lot of people forget is that we have the other businesses, too. So during that same time, we did not only invest in Synertia, we invested in dual output, dual frequency, new motors and drives for the matchboxes , ultra-fast tuning for the matchb oxes, new sensors for the matchb oxes, which then again gives us a way better start because we're talking about Gen 3 next generation match, which will use a Synertia engine. I'll talk a little bit more about that. But also on the vacuum capacitor side, we've launched two new—three new products over the last couple of years, all tied about faster tuning, faster response time, better stability.
Again, looking to our forward integration, that will help tremendously with our competitive positioning because we have the technology in-house to make the fastest, most reliable, best repeatable match in the world. Combine that with the RF generator, who has the same capabilities, that's a unique value proposition we have. Maybe to the slide you've all been waiting for. The product was launched in 2022, and in 2022, we very quickly got a couple of POs. That does not necessarily mean that high volume will come, and we try to explain it here with the different stages which we're in, where you basically go to a customer demonstration, and depending on the customer, you can get an initial PO because he wants to play a little bit more, but others go through a long qualification cycle.
I'm pleased to update today that we have made tremendous progress in regards of customer engagements on Synertia. I'm also proud to say that we have our first official design win with a tier one major OEM. We actually have four design wins, of which one in Asia and two in Europe, too. And we're going to a large number of qualifications at the same time. Plus, I think, which is more important even, is the bottom section. We have more than 50 active engagements with others, which do not fit into the categories, so we didn't know how to put it on one slide, a lot more cleaner. But that just is the fuel. If one of those customers flips, the market turns around, that we come at PCT, are ready to get the next cycle of growth with Synertia. That said, it's a platform.
We've done the first gamma... We've now the gamma released for the high volume, for the 13 MHz. There is much more to come. It doesn't stop here. We are working on a lot of new features according to specific customer needs. We are working on AFT, auto frequency tuning. We have multilevel pulsing. We're doing up to eight stages multilevel pulsing, which no competitor has today. So we're doing a lot of advanced feature development in expansion to the existing platform. Too, also a big difference compared to last year, the product portfolio of Synertia is continued to expand. Today, we have the 13 MHz, up to 5 kW released for gamma. Customers can send purchase orders, we can deliver. By the middle of next year, we will have the 27 MHz, and the 60 MHz also ready for gamma.
Looking then to the match itself. Due to the progress we made with all of that, we can also update here that during that same time period, we will have the gamma release of the RF match Gen 3 also. We're actually already today having prototypes out with three major customers in three continents, so we're well on track to execute and stay on track with that commitment like we made. Another thing which we took a step back upon is with Synertia now, how can we monetize going forward, service as a business? Partly also driven by being more resilient to semi cycles. We're actively working on developing the service organization, setting up the service business model behind. You should expect more over the next coming years.
And then last but not least, with Synertia, we've also recognized, and that's where partially this 50 engagement comes from, that due to the modularity and the high configurability of the platform, we can actually go into adjacent markets without any issue, and we can sell the generator there, too. Just less options, less features, less capabilities, and for example, we're talking about photovoltaic, where they use the same generators, PVD display, where they use the same generators. It's still in the high end. It's not semiconductor, but it's definitely adjacent markets, which are complementary and easy for us to exit, access. Going to one of my last slides, we spoke about our expansion in Asia. We are, as PCT, also close to a lot of the Asian semiconductor end markets, whether it's Korea, whether it's China, whether it's Taiwan, or even Penang, where most of our major customers are located and the big hubs are. We have our design center, which is based in Korea, as I mentioned already, supporting the European customers. And we have the high-volume manufacturing site in Penang, in the leased facility, like, Stephan mentioned and Nicola mentioned earlier. The leased building in Penang was really a good opportunity for PCT, because it started the engagement in 2020, and really allowed us to invest lightly there. It also allowed us to move fast, and prove that the concept works. It was close to one of our major customers, and it allowed us to develop the regional supply chain at the same time.
Now, with the expansion, like we mentioned, we can scale much faster, we can be much more resilient, we can also be much more in control for the future. So overall, we can increase our productivity there, and we will have a business continuity plan in place. And with that, I conclude, and I can proudly update that I truly believe that PCT is well positioned. We're in the right market, with the right growth behind, with the right products, and for the first time, we're able to execute as we committed, with that. So thank you for that.
Thank you, Joeri, Michael, and Dionys. We're going now into the Q&A session while my colleagues, they rebuild the stage a little bit. Three remarks before we start Q&A. First of all, please wait for the mic. We have people in the webcast, so wait until you speak. Second, state your name and your company. The third is, please limit the number of questions to two, so that everybody has time to ask a question. Now, as I see that everything is installed, thank you. I kindly ask my colleagues to the stage. If I can't see you because of the light, just wave heavily, then we'll see you also in the back. Who wants to start with a question?
Thank you. Michael Foeth, Vontobel. Two questions. One is on, you talked a lot about resilience in the business model, and you explained where you see your peak margins. In future downturns, do you have any target for a floor of EBITDA margin that you would like to achieve or maintain in those downturns? And the second question would be regarding the PCT business. In your projections for peak sales, how much do you expect to generate with this Synertia platform, and how much with the service business that you alluded to?
Sir.
Maybe I can start with the first question, and maybe you'll add a little bit to it before we go to the PCT question. A generic floor, I'm not able to indicate, because it always depends really on the severity of the downturn or the correction. Needless to say, we are disappointed in how far we dropped this time around, and I mean, we were anticipating at least a double-digit EBITDA. So looking forward, with all the measures that we're working on in becoming more efficient, and especially also limiting some of the structural costs, we definitely believe that we should be able to, you know, keep drops on profitability way above, you know, halving an EBITDA from peak to bottom.
So, basically, if we aim at 25%-30% of EBITDA in the next peak, that in the bottom, we stay close to the 20%.
Yeah, I think basically nothing much more to add. And, I mean, our goal actually should be that even in a downturn, we are at least covering our cost of capital, and out of that, then deriving what the minimum EBITDA margin should be. That is our homework that we still need to do, but basically, that is our guiding principle going forward. As a next step, at least covering the cost of capital.
Joeri? Do you remember the question of PCT?
The PCT question.
Also, so-
In your peak sales, what sort of contribution do you expect from the Synertia platform and from the service business just that you discussed?
I will take the first question.
For the peak of the next cycle, we still stick to a market share slightly more modest than last time communicated, of 5%-10%.
Then in regards of the service business, we do have already some service today, but I think we need to shoot for best-in-class performance, and that's somewhere around 2030, 30% of the revenue stream should come from the service.
Does that answer your question, Michael?
Thank you.
Okay, who's next? Then we have, Doron over there.
Thank you very, thank you very much, Doron Lande, Kepler Cheuvreux. I just want to connect on the market share regarding Synertia. Now we always talked about the 10%, now it's more and more or so, 5%-10%. Can this really be the ambition for such a groundbreaking platform?
Yeah, you have to take the time into the context of that number. We're now at the bottom. As Joeri has spoken about, we are getting the design wins, and we are working hard to become part of the next ramp up and grow in the ramp. But if the peak is going to be around 2027, there is just so much time to win market share. So, as I said just before, we've become maybe slightly more modest and are talking of 5%-10% market share until the next peak. Does that-- Did I answer your question?
Yes. Thank you very much. Second question, maybe. Regarding the design wins, I'm curious, can you maybe give more color on what's the scale? What would be a timeline between a design win and actual sales? And also maybe how certain those sales would come in, or can a customer still jump off this design win? Thank you.
Sure. I can give a little bit more color. It's a, it's a design win with a major Tier 1 OEM. The Synertia will go out together with their new chambers, early January. Unfortunately, we don't know how successful that new chamber will be, but we expect if their system is successful, then our generator will be on it, and then we will be successful too. Plus, we're working on three other chambers for that same tool that goes out.
Thank you, Joeri. Then, we have a question from Harald.
Yes, Harald from ZKB. I mean, you postponed the midterm targets to 2027, but, I mean, still, for 2025 is still an important year, I would say. And also, I think the initial RF power generator guidance was aimed at 2025, no? Assuming now we end up at, let's say, CHF 400 million, and market recovery, independent of RF generator and your back-end business, is bringing you to CHF 500 million top line, 2025 assumption. And if I now take the lower bound of the new 2027 guidance, CHF 800 million, discount it a bit, and then probably say it's CHF 700 million for 2025, just my assumption. Then there would be a gap of CHF 200 million between where the market would bring you, pure recovery, plus your RF generator and the back end.
So my interpretation is simply that this then would imply upending the old RF power generator sales guidance of CHF 100 million, plus, let's say, CHF 80 million for the back end. How do you view this interpretation?
Well, doing some head calculation quickly on stage in front of an audience, it's difficult to fully understand, comprehend your model. We indicated a year ago that, given a mild downturn in 2023, that CHF 100 million for RF generators in 2025 would be feasible. Now, given the fact that we are going through a pretty arduous time, a much deeper and wider trough in the correction, I would say for 2027, CHF 100 million is absolutely in reach, but it all depends now on how the recovery is going to be, probably second half of 2024, and how aggressive the ramp up in 2025 will be.
One word, probably also on the back end?
On the back end, that mostly pertains to what Dionys has spoken about. We already do probably 55% of the business, or at least of the incoming orders at IXS, in the semi-electronics space, probably closer to electronics than semi. And as I showed in my presentation, the transition over to advanced packaging is quite aggressive in the forecast. I wouldn't be surprised by 2027 if the advanced packaging inspection market is going to be approximately of the same size as the electronics part. Electronics today, or in 2022, market size was estimated around CHF 200 million-CHF 220 million a year, and I wouldn't be surprised if advanced packaging is in that area, and we're aiming at a healthy market share in this arena.
So I'm not going to give you any number to fill your model that I don't understand, but it is going to be a very important pillar in the growth, aspirations, and strategy of Dionys. And maybe I misstated some of the numbers, but you can jump in and correct me.
I can just with one word confirm it. Yes.
Okay. Thank you.
Many thanks.
Thank you, Harold. Then, we have Michael, who's here.
Yes, thank you. It's Michael from Stifel. I have just two smaller questions. You mentioned, Stephan, the share, the market share, 5%-10%. I'm just wondering, has it more to do with the recovery of the market, that you just cannot gain more because the market is recovering slowly, or also has it to do with the competition? So I wonder, you know, we've heard this year about Advanced Energy, for example, releasing also what they would probably call a smart generator. So maybe you can elaborate a little bit on what you think about the competition there. And on IXS, just trying to understand a bit the economics there, because you said, Dionys, like, co-developer of that product, I guess, which I think we can imagine who that is.
But how does the economic then work? You know, are you able to sell it to others as well, or does your co-developer take a part of your profit? Just, just to understand, you know, because probably it's a big one that supports you there, so I just want to know how that actually works then in the market. Thanks.
So, first and foremost, you're probably alluding to the launch of the eVerest platform at Advanced Energy. It's a very good product, definitely, like products are from Advanced Energy. As Joeri mentioned, we believe that we have quite a good leg up in terms of many of the features that are in high demand going into the next nodes and more complicated configurations, topologies, and architectures of microprocessors. So coming to the 5%-10%, I think there are... Well, first of all, to answer your question, it is more a consideration of time to get to volume. And frankly, with the strong downturn, many of our customers have been very, very occupied and busy with other things than qualification.
So, although we are super happy about the design wins that Joeri talked about, we would have hoped to be there, where we are today, already half a year ago, but that wasn't possible given the fact that our main customers were scrambling to shore up their losses and therefore had less time for qualification. Does that answer it?
Yeah. Thanks.
Your question.
To answer your question with respect to the co-creator, the development partner, the real good thing about that partnership is that it is not exclusive. And we have, I would say we see in that partnership, beneficial on both sides. We, we help each other, but we also have other big leaders knocking at our door. And we actually, for this co-creation, we are selling tickets to be part of. So it's a different type of collaboration, so no exclusivity, and we can move everywhere.
Perfect. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Then we have a question from Urs Beck, [audio distortion].
Thank you. It's Urs from EFG. Got an easy one for Joeri. When you mentioned you won one chamber now and discussion for three, four, can you put that into perspective? How big is the offering of these big semi equipment manufacturers, or how many of those chambers you need to win to get to a 10% market share?
Well, that's indeed not an easy question. But, to give you an example, one product line at one of the big tier one OEMs, one equipment type, right? They sell 250 a quarter. One system has six chambers. Each chamber has three generators. So you don't need that many to get to high volumes. And more, I cannot say about it.
Thank you for the question, Urs. Then we have another question from Sebastian.
Yeah, Sebastian from UBS. Quickly, the first one is a bit more on a basic side. You talked a little bit about mix, memory, non-memory. In that regard, it would be great if you can just quickly remind us where you stand in this context? And if I guess I saw it correctly on one of the slides, you mentioned also that you have sort of 40% market share in match boxes. If I recall correctly, in the past, this number was a bit slower or smaller. Question there is, from whom you were gaining market share there? If you can shed a little bit more light, that would be appreciated.
The market share, I think, it's no secret that one of our competitors performed really bad throughout a certain cycle because of an issue. I think we gained market share from that.
The mix between memory and non-memory?
In regards of what?
Of PCT overall match boxes and vacuum capacitors. In the past, you mentioned you have more memory, then you said you have less memory, and just was wondering what's the latest there?
I think we still today have too much exposure on an OEM who is heavily memory exposed. But we're gaining traction with the logic side of the business, and we're heavily focused on expanding our share. That's also what you see in the number of engagements which we're doing. The engagements are specifically targeting also the logic side of it.
One last follow-up on that one, if I may. The last time on the capital market stage, you mentioned, if I'm not mistaken, you have a 50/50 exposure to memory and non-memory. Now you said you have less exposure to logic than that number, apparently. What went wrong in the meantime, or what was now the view on these numbers?
So, the last Capital Markets Day, we said that we are closing in to a 50/50. That was based on the assumption, assumptions that we made in calculating this ratio. As we see now, this assumption wasn't entirely correct. So we're still too much exposed to memory, and therefore, we have doubled down all our initiatives in order to strengthen our portfolio in the logic side of the market. But, as I mentioned, a year ago, no one tells us, none of our customers tell us, and you cannot tell from the tool itself whether it is going to be applied in a memory fab or a logic fab.
So we have to kinda make assumptions based on what we know from the customers, how strongly they are in logic and/or memory, and how much revenue we make with those customers. So it kind of remains a close book for us, and what we just know now in the down cycle, since it hit us so hard, that we are too strongly exposed to memory.
Thank you for your question, Sebastian. Do we have more questions in the audience? Yeah, Nate, one second. The mic is coming.
Nate from Octavian. So I have a question. You mentioned you also look at adjacent markets with Synertia. Can you maybe say which ones would be the highest opportunity? And also, what are some of the stages there? Because you didn't really show in which phase they are.
Yeah. So, adjacent markets, I think I spoke already during the presentation. It's heavily PV, photovoltaic. Similar applications, ALD, et cetera. Similar semiconductor, but less requirements. They use then also generators with less features, less advanced software capabilities, et cetera. And the other one is display. Those are the two. In regards of status, they're part of the 50 other engagements. We actually have some orders already today from those customers.
Can you maybe quantify how much would that give to, to sales in the next two, three years?
It's still in early stage. A lot of those companies, we do not need to go through a large qualification cycle with. They just give initial POs for small volumes. It's difficult to quantify how much percentage that will be in the next years.
Thank you, Nate. Who's next? Sebastian, again.
Sorry, if I may, just two quick follow-ups on this earlier example, on the numbers of chambers and the numbers of generators going into the chamber and so on. What would be the sort of the average selling price for such a generator then, going into this example?
So, it really depends on the configuration. I would say the average selling price is going to be in the low five-digit , with very good margins.
Got it. And one follow-up on the point with regard to the RF generator and the competitive landscape. In the past, you mentioned that your product is like two-three years ahead of your competition in that context. Now, the whole rollout takes a bit longer. As we saw, as we heard earlier on, there are some competitors that are following up there. How much time do you think you still have a bit of a head start? Is it still more like two years, or actually has it expanded, or actually it's down to one year? Any thought there would be great.
I'll give you my personal view on it. One, we look to the other solutions out there. It's nice to call it something new when you do a lot, a couple of gimmicks. I don't think they've caught up. It took us seven years to come to a stage where we are today. I think it will take them at least the same amount of time to develop something equal.
I would confirm that. So, when we went and took a look at the launch of the new platform from our competitor, what they have achieved, they have caught up, but not close to us, actually. And so if they wanna take that next step and come to the same level, they have to do the same work that we had to do. Now, maybe they are more experienced and faster and can do that, not having to start with a greenfield approach like we did about seven years ago. But they're still a number of years behind.
I don't think we're in a position where we can say it's 2.5 or three or four, but they are considerably behind on some of the features and the entire ecosystem that PCT built, from factory to smart lab to the platform itself. So, there's quite some jump to make for them.
Thank you, Sebastian. More questions in the room? I think from the webcast, no questions. So it's the last, I will call that the last and final opportunity to ask a question to the five gentlemen here on stage. So I don't see any questions, so then, we can end the Capital Markets Day roughly 10 minutes early. I hope aperitif is already ready. Thank you for attending, today's Capital Markets Day. Obviously, you have, now time during the aperitif to talk to management. If not all answer, all questions are answered, feel free to contact, me at any time, and we can discuss further on the topics that are important for you and also for us as a company. Thanks again, looking forward to continue our dialogue.
Also, thank you to those who were joining us on the web, and goodbye.