In 2003, the market for vacuum components and equipment subsystems totaled $2.6 billion worldwide, according to International Statistics on Vacuum Technology's working group of Albuquerque, N.M. The semiconductor process vacuum segment was the largest at $99 million, or 38 percent of the market.

The figures are gathered for the Association of Vacuum Equipment Manufacturers International, the European Vacuum Technology and Japan Vacuum Industry associations, and Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International. The member companies surveyed represent about 80 percent of the vacuum components industry.