This is a best prospect industry sector for this country. Includes a market overview and trade data.

Overview

The Dutch government has categorized all technological, “smart” solutions for manufacturing (advanced manufacturing) as High Tech Systems and Materials (HTSM), which is one of nine “top sectors” that the Dutch government promotes as the most significant drivers of the economy.  The sector is divided into seventeen subsectors:   semiconductor equipment, printing, lighting, solar, healthcare, security, automotive, aeronautics, advanced instrumentation, space, nanotechnology, components and circuits, mechatronics, photonics, embedded systems, high tech materials, and information and communication technology.

HTSM has been the largest top sector in the Netherlands over the past couple of years and was the top sector with the largest research and development spending, accounting for 57.3 percent of total spending by top sectors and 51.9 percent of total spending by all industries in the Netherlands in 2014.   In 2015, HTSM employed 491,000 people full-time, the highest of any top sector.  This figure represented 35.1 percent of all jobs in the top sectors.  HTSM manufacturers represented 24 percent of all companies in the top sectors but produced the second largest amount of export goods among top sectors, representing  29.4 percent of total top sector export value.   
 

Leading Sub-Sectors

The semiconductor equipment sector is an important market in the Netherlands.   According to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, almost all chips around the world have a Dutch part inside them or are manufactured with Dutch tools.   Worldwide, the Netherlands has a market share of 20 percent.  The Dutch Government has identified several areas where it is encouraging the semiconductor equipment sector to focus:   sustainability, safety and security, and the aging society.

Because of new innovations, the market is expected to grow by 14 percent per year for the next ten years. Market challenges include:

  • continuous miniaturization;

  • higher productivity;

  • improving accuracy of equipment;

  • product metrology; and

  • 450 mm production equipment.


One of the leading manufacturers of semiconductor equipment in the Netherlands is ASML.   ASML has a market share of over 80 percent in lithography and is well-known for its technological developments in the field of extreme ultraviolet lithography.  Another important player in the semiconductor market is chip manufacturer NXP, which Qualcomm recently tried to acquire.   NXP currently operates in more than 33 countries.

The government established the organization Holland High Tech to assist the industry with export promotion, training, andfacilitating public/private partnerships.


Web Resources:

Trade Events:   Hannover Messe
April 1-4, 2019 | Hannover, Germany
Exhibition for the entire technological industry
Hannover Messe website
 
High-Tech Systems
April 11, 2019 | Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Exhibition for high-tech engineering and disruptive mechatronics
High-Tech Systems website

Associations: Holland High Tech

High Tech NL
               
FME (Employee association for the technological industry)

Contact:  Philip Hammerstein, Commercial Specialist                                          
U.S. Commercial Service – The Netherlands
Philip.Hammerstein@trade.gov | +31-70-310 2416

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.