AXCELIS TECHNOLOGIES INC - Annual Report: 2009 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the transition period from                  to                 
Commission file number 000-30941

AXCELIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

108 Cherry Hill Drive
Beverly, Massachusetts 01915
(Address of principal executive offices) (zip code)

(978) 787-4000
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None

         Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes o No ý

         Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No ý

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý No o

         Indicate by checkmark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, of any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes o No o

         Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ý

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes o No ý

         Aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2009: $47,081,992

         Number of shares outstanding of the registrant's Common Stock, $0.001 par value, as of March 15, 2010: 104,135,179.

Documents incorporated by reference:

         Portions of the definitive Proxy Statement for Axcelis Technologies, Inc.'s Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 7, 2010 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

PART I

Item 1.    Business.

Overview of Our Business

        Axcelis Technologies, Inc. ("Axcelis," the Company," "we," "us," or "our") designs, manufactures and services ion implantation, dry strip and other processing equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips. We sell to leading semiconductor chip manufacturers worldwide. The ion implantation business comprised approximately 83.4% of our revenue in 2009 with the remaining 16.6% of revenue derived from our dry strip and other processing systems. In addition to equipment, we provide extensive aftermarket service and support, including spare parts, equipment upgrades, maintenance services and customer training. Through March 30, 2009, we also owned 50% of the equity of SEN Corporation, an SHI and Axcelis Company, or "SEN," a leading producer of ion implantation equipment in Japan. In February 2009, we entered into an agreement to sell our shares in SEN, which closed on March 30, 2009. We have a non-exclusive cross license of patented and unpatented technology with SEN. See "Sale of Investment in SEN" below.

        Axcelis, which was incorporated in Delaware in 1995, is headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts. We maintain an Internet site at http://www.axcelis.com. We make available free of charge on and through this website our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our website and the information contained therein or connected thereto shall not be deemed to be incorporated into this Form 10-K.

Industry Overview

        Semiconductor chips, also known as integrated circuits, are used in personal computers, telecommunication equipment, digital consumer electronics, wireless communication products and other applications. Types of semiconductor chips include memory chips (which store and retrieve information), microprocessors (logic devices which process information) and "system on chip" devices (which have both logic and memory features). Most semiconductor chips are built on a wafer of silicon of either 200mm (8 inches) or 300mm (12 inches) in diameter. Each semiconductor chip is made up of millions of tiny transistors or "switches" to control the functions of the device. Transistors are created in the silicon wafer by introducing various precisely placed impurities into the silicon in specific patterns. The process steps in the formation of transistors are traditionally referred to as "front-end-of-line." The "back-end-of-line" process steps connect the transistors and other components together through several overlapping layers of metal wires, known as interconnect, creating a complete circuit. Each layer of metal interconnect must be separated by a non-conductive or insulating material called inter-level dielectric. Each layer that is added is selectively patterned to all previous layers through a process called photolithography.

        Semiconductor chip manufacturers utilize many different types of equipment in the making of integrated circuits. There are over 300 process steps utilizing over 50 different types of process tools required in the making of a single device like a microprocessor. Semiconductor chip manufacturers seek efficiency improvements through increased throughput, equipment utilization and higher manufacturing yields. Capacity is added by increasing the amount of manufacturing equipment in existing fabrication facilities and by constructing new fabrication facilities. Periodically the semiconductor industry adopts a larger silicon wafer size to achieve lower manufacturing costs. Semiconductor manufacturers can produce more chips on a larger wafer, thus reducing the overall manufacturing cost per chip. For example, the use of 200mm wafers in production began at the end of the 1980s. The migration from 200mm to 300mm began at the end of the 1990s. The majority of wafer

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fabrication facilities today are using wafers with a diameter of 300mm. In 2009, Axcelis derived 75.0% of total systems revenue (a component of product revenue) from sales of 300mm equipment.

        The customer base is also changing. Given the magnitude of the investment needed to build a new wafer fabrication facility (often referred to as a "fab"), which can be over $3 billion for a new 300mm fab, many customers are entering into partnerships to offset the cost of technology development and manufacturing. In addition, many chip developers outsource all or part of their chip manufacturing requirements to contract manufacturers, known as foundries. Foundries are significant purchasers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

        Historically, the semiconductor industry has grown on an annual basis. However, the industry has also been highly cyclical, as global chip production capacities successively exceed, then lag behind, global chip demand. When chip demand is high, and inventories low, chip manufacturers add capacity though capital equipment purchases. Given the difficulties of forecasting and calibrating chip demand and production capacity, the industry periodically experiences excess chip inventories and softening chip prices. Our customers react with muted capital spending, lowering the demand for our equipment. Changes in consumer and business demand for products in which chips are used also affect the industry. Current economic conditions have resulted in greatly reduced demand, and this situation will continue until the global economy shows a significant rebound. Therefore, a successful semiconductor equipment manufacturer must not only provide some of the most technically complex products manufactured in the world but also must design its business to thrive during the inevitable low points in the cycle.

Axcelis' Strategy

        Our mission and vision is to:

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Ensure our customers' success by providing enabling semiconductor manufacturing and support solutions that deliver the best performance at the lowest total cost of ownership.



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Achieve and maintain market share leadership in ion implantation and dry strip.



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Deliver profitability and positive cash flow through the industry cycles to maximize shareholder and employee value.

        Operationally, we manage our business based on three main tenets:

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technology leadership,



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operational excellence, and



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customer partnerships.

        We have continued to invest in research and development through the industry cycles to assure our products meet the needs of our customers. We continue to add to our portfolio of patents and unpatented proprietary technology to ensure that our investment in technology leadership is translated into unique product advantages. We take pride in our scientists and engineers who comprise over one-third of our workforce. We strive for operational excellence by focusing on ways to lower our manufacturing and design costs and to improve our delivery times to our customers. Finally, we have grown and improved our customer support infrastructure and have established Global Customer Teams and a focused account management structure to strengthen our customer relationships and increase customer satisfaction.

Ion Implantation Systems

        Ion implantation is a principal step in the transistor formation cycle of the semiconductor manufacturing process. An ion implanter is a large, technically advanced machine that injects dopants

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such as arsenic, boron or phosphorus into a silicon wafer. These dopants are ionized and therefore have electric charges. With an electric charge they can be manipulated, moved and accelerated with electric and magnetic fields. Ion implanters use these fields to create a beam of ions with a precisely defined amount of energy (ranging between several hundred and three million electron-volts) and with a precisely defined amount of beam current (ranging from microamps to milliamps). Certain areas of the silicon wafer are blocked off by a polymer material known as photoresist, which acts as a "stencil" to pattern devices so that the dopants will only enter the wafer where needed. The dopants change the electrical properties of the silicon wafer to create the active components of a chip, called the transistors. Typical process flows require twenty implant steps, with the most advanced processes requiring thirty or more. Each implant step is characterized by four key parameters: dopant type, dose (amount of dopant), energy (depth into the silicon) and tilt (angle of wafer relative to the ion beam).

        In order to cover the wide range of implant steps, three different types of implanters have been developed, each designed to cover a specific range of applications, primarily defined by dose and energy. The three traditional implanter types are referred to as medium current, high current and high energy:

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Medium current (mid dose) implanters are the original model of ion implanter, with mid-range energy and dose capability. These implanters are single wafer systems in which only one wafer at a time is slowly moved in front of the ion beam.



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High current (high dose) implanters were the second type of implanter to emerge, having low energy capability and high dose range. High current implanters were initially designed as "multi wafer" or "batch" tools for maximum productivity, processing multiple wafers at the same time. To address smaller device geometries and provide high tilt, single wafer high current implanters now dominate the sector.



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High energy implanters emerged to address the need for deeper implants with a high energy range and low dose. High energy implanters are available in both multi wafer and single wafer architectures.

        Axcelis offers a complete line of high energy, high current and medium current implanters for all application requirements.

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High Energy Implant.  Axcelis is a market leader in high energy ion implanters. Our single wafer tool for high energy applications, the Optima XE, was released in the fourth quarter of 2007 and upgraded to the Optima XEx in 2009. The Optima XEx combines Axcelis' production-proven RF Linac high energy, spot beam technology with a high-speed, state-of-the-art single wafer endstation, enabling unmatched throughput. Axcelis' advanced spot beam ensures that all points across the wafer see the same beam at the same beam angle, resulting in exceptional process control and maximum yield. We expect to maintain our leadership in the high energy segment through sales of our multi wafer high energy systems and the Optima XEx.



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High Current Implant.  We introduced our single wafer Optima HD product (for high current applications) in 2006, which was upgraded to the Optima HDx in 2009. We use the term "high dose" or "HD" in connection with this product because the Optima HD fulfills all traditional high current requirements while extending beyond traditional high current energy and dose ranges. In order to maximize utilization and flexibility, the Optima HD can process some traditional mid current implants. In addition, the Optima HD is extendable into ultra-low energy applications to satisfy future process requirements. The Optima HD also supports molecular and hydrogen implants for emerging dual poly gate and silicon-on-insulator applications to improve device speed and performance. With the Optima HDx, Axcelis is regaining market share in high current lost when customers shifted from multi wafer to single wafer tools.

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Medium Current Implant.  With the introduction of the Optima MD in 2005, Axcelis re-entered the medium current market segment, which we had not participated in since 2001. We refer to this product as "mid dose" or "MD" because it has energy and dose capabilities which extend beyond the traditional medium current space into traditional high current and high energy spaces.

        We believe the Optima products will continue to meet customer demand for advantages in productivity, simplicity, process performance and technical extendibility.

Dry Strip

        Of our total 2009 revenue, 13.5% was derived from our dry strip products. In the process steps prior to ion implantation, a light sensitive, polymer-based liquid called photoresist is spread in a uniformly thin film on the wafer. Through a process known as photolithography, the photoresist is developed into a pattern like a stencil. Once the subsequent implant processes and etch steps (in which the top layer of the surface of the wafer not covered by photoresist is removed) are completed, the photoresist is no longer necessary and must be removed. The primary means of removing photoresist and residue is a process called "dry strip" or "ashing." Our dry strip machines, also called "ashers," use microwave and radio frequency energy to turn process gases into plasma, which then acts to "clean" the surface of the wafer by removing the photoresist and unwanted residue.

        Axcelis offers a full line of dry strip tools that cover the entire range of customer applications. Our newest product, the Integra RS, was introduced in 2009 and brings significantly higher productivity and flexibility to Axcelis' already proven advanced dry strip process capabilities. The Integra RS's unique multi-chamber design includes paired-chamber process modules that can run production recipes with the highest throughputs available for leading edge memory and logic devices. Each of the chamber pairs can operate independently, giving users the choice of running different cleaning recipes simultaneously or performing maintenance on one module while the others continue to operate. This flexibility makes the system ideal for a variety of advanced cleaning applications in a high volume manufacturing environment. The platform also includes technology required to address cleaning challenges at emerging transistor device nodes, such as those associated with advanced source/drain formation and high-k/metal-gate structures.

        We believe our dry strip products and technology will continue to meet customer demand for advantages in productivity, process performance and technical extendibility.

Other Processing Systems

        Axcelis also provides aftermarket support for the installed base of thermal processing and photostabilization/curing systems manufactured by Axcelis. In 2007 Axcelis ceased further development of these product lines. These systems and related services contributed 4.1% of our 2009 revenue.

        Photostabilization/Curing Systems    In some manufacturing processes, the photoresist stencil material spread on the wafer must be hardened or "cured." Axcelis' curing (also known as photostabilization) systems use proprietary ultraviolet light sources to cure the photoresist so the material maintains the desired pattern during the subsequent implant processes and etch steps.

        The photostabilization and curing market has remained a small segment. In past years, Axcelis has explored growth opportunities for this product line in curing and drying new low-k dielectric materials. To date, broad adoption of such materials has not occurred. In the fourth quarter of 2007, Axcelis determined that the current and near term market opportunity for the curing product line did not justify continuing investment in these products. As a result, Axcelis decided to cease future product development in curing to focus on profitable growth within the company's core ion implant and dry strip businesses.

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        Thermal Processing Systems    At a number of points during the manufacturing process, silicon wafers need to be heated rapidly, often to 900 degrees centigrade or higher, in order to complete chemical or electronic reactions. This heating process is referred to as rapid thermal processing, or RTP. Our thermal processing systems employ a patented design to process a single wafer in a hot wall vertical reactor. This technology differs from most other thermal processing equipment, which regulate temperature through a lamp-based system. The RTP market is dominated by a single major competitor and, while the Axcelis RTP systems have technological advantages for certain applications, our penetration into the market remains low. In the third quarter of 2007, Axcelis determined that the current and near term market opportunity for the RTP product line did not justify continuing investment in these products. As a result, Axcelis decided to cease future product development in RTP to focus on profitable growth within the company's core ion implant and dry strip businesses.

Aftermarket Support and Services

        We offer our customers extensive aftermarket service and support throughout the lifecycle of the equipment we manufacture. We believe that approximately 4,000 of our products are in use in 50 countries worldwide. The service and support that we provide include spare parts, equipment upgrades, and maintenance services. We provide service out of 47 field offices to customers located in 29 countries. Revenue generated through our service and support business represented about 73.8%, 57.1%, and 42.2% of revenue in 2009, 2008, and 2007, respectively.

        Our customer support network consists of over 393 staff, including sales and marketing personnel, field service engineers, and spare parts and applications engineers, as well as employees located at our manufacturing facilities who work with our customers to provide customer training and documentation, product, process and applications support.

        Most of our customers maintain spare parts inventories for our machines. In addition to our web-based spare parts management and replenishment tracking program, we offer a number of Business-to-Business options to support our customers' parts management requirements. AMI (Axcelis Managed Inventory) provides the customer with full spares support through which Axcelis takes responsibility for the complete supply chain. The expansion of these services provides ease of use alternatives that help us reduce order fulfillment costs and improve cycle time, resulting in an expanded customer base for this service offering. See Note 2 to our Consolidated Financial Statements contained in Item 15 of this Form 10-K for a discussion of revenue classifications from our aftermarket business.

Sales and Marketing

        We primarily sell our equipment and services through our direct sales force. We have 16 sales offices in ten countries. Aftermarket service and support is also offered at all of these offices. In the United States, we conduct sales and marketing activities from seven locations. Outside of the United States, our sales offices are located in Taiwan, South Korea, China, Japan, Germany, Singapore, Netherlands, France and Italy. In addition, isolated sales are made in smaller markets through distributors and manufacturing representatives.

        In Japan, SEN Corporation has a non-exclusive license to use certain patented and unpatented technology owned by the Company. This license does not restrict our ability to sell any of our products in Japan. See "Sale of Investment in SEN" below. We support our products in Japan through a representative agreement with Applied Materials, Inc., which provides aftermarket services and support services for our products.

        International revenue, including export sales from our U.S. manufacturing facilities to foreign customers, sales by foreign subsidiaries and branches, and royalties, accounted for 62.8% of total revenue in 2009, 64.7% in 2008, and 67.0% in 2007. Substantially all of our sales are denominated in U.S. dollars. See Note 17 to our Consolidated Financial Statements contained in Item 15 of this

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Form 10-K for a breakdown of our revenue and long-lived assets in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Customers

        In 2009, the top 20 semiconductor manufacturers accounted for approximately 96.0% of total semiconductor industry capital spending, up from 75.8% in 2008. These manufacturers are from the four largest semiconductor manufacturing regions in the world: the United States, Asia Pacific (Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and China), Japan and Europe. The Company serves all leading semiconductor manufacturers. We believe that more than 4,000 of our products, including products shipped by our former Japanese joint venture prior to our divestiture of that company in 2009, are in use worldwide.

        Revenue from our ten largest customers accounted for 56.6%, 51.5%, and 57.8% of revenue in 2009, 2008, and 2007, respectively. We expect that sales of our products to relatively few customers will continue to account for a high percentage of revenue for the foreseeable future. In 2009, no customer accounted for more than 10% of revenue. In 2008 one customer accounted for 11.7% of revenue.

Sale of Investment in SEN

        Until March 30, 2009, we owned 50% of the equity of SEN, a joint venture with Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. ("SHI") in Japan. This joint venture licensed technology from us relating to the manufacture of specified ion implantation products and had exclusive rights to manufacture and sell these products in the territory of Japan. On March 30, 2009, pursuant to a Share Purchase Agreement dated February 26, 2009, we sold to SHI all of our common shares in SEN in exchange for a cash payment of 13 billion Yen, which resulted in proceeds of approximately $132.8 million before advisor fees and other expenses of $10.6 million. The sales price was determined through an arm's length negotiation. This transaction terminated all prior agreements among the three parties relating to the SEN joint venture. In addition, an arbitration we had initiated against SEN in Tokyo was dismissed.

        In connection with the sale of our investment in SEN, on March 30, 2009, the Company and SEN entered into a License Agreement pursuant to which the parties have cross licensed each other to use certain ion implant patents and technical information on a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide basis, provided that both received sole exclusive licenses for 4 years in the U.S. and Japan, respectively. The licenses to technical information cover only technical information shared by the parties prior to the date of the license, so the license to SEN does not cover technical information relating to the Optima HD and Optima XE. The license also excludes patents relating to our work in molecular implant and certain patents developed for the Optima HD and Optima XE. The parties provided each other with limited warranties regarding their right to grant these licenses, and indemnity with respect thereto, but disclaim any warranty regarding the validity or freedom from infringement of the licensed intellectual property. Neither party will provide any support for the other party's use of the licensed intellectual property.

        The sale of our investment in SEN on March 30, 2009, resulted in a gain of approximately $1.1 million. This gain includes net proceeds of $122.2 million (after payment of advisor fees and other costs of $10.6 million) and cumulative foreign translation gain of $23.5 million, previously recorded in other comprehensive income, reduced by the carrying value of the investment on the date of sale of $144.6 million. The gain from the sale of our investment in SEN is recorded in other income.

        A portion of the proceeds of the sale was used to pay off, in full, the amounts due to the holder of our 4.25% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes.

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Research and Development

        Our industry continues to experience rapid technological change, requiring us to frequently introduce new products and enhancements. Our ability to remain competitive in this market will depend in part upon our ability to develop new and enhanced systems and to introduce these systems at competitive prices on a timely and cost effective basis.

        We devote a significant portion of our personnel and financial resources to research and development programs and seek to maintain close relationships with our customers to remain responsive to their product needs. We have also sought to reduce the development cycle for new products through a collaborative process whereby our engineering, manufacturing and marketing personnel work closely together with one another and with our customers at an earlier stage in the process. We also use 3D, computer-aided design, finite element analysis and other computer-based modeling methods to test new designs.

        Our expenditures for research and development were $32.7 million, $63.3 million and $72.0 million in 2009, 2008, and 2007, respectively, or 24.6%, 25.3% and 17.8% of revenue, respectively. We expect that research and development expenditures will continue to represent a substantial investment in future years.

Manufacturing

        We manufacture products at our 417,000 sq. ft. ISO 9000:2008, ISO 14001:2004 certified plant in Beverly, Massachusetts. Our facility employs best in class manufacturing techniques including lean manufacturing, six sigma controls and advanced inventory management, purchasing and quality systems. Our clean manufacturing process uses class 1000/10,000 space to facilitate most of our manufacturing requirements.

        Products are designed to be assembled and tested in a modular fashion which facilitates our industry recognized ship-from-cell process. Specially developed test stands, software and tooling provide the framework for this accelerated delivery process. Customers that choose ship-from-cell substantially improve their delivery times while receiving the same high level of quality provided by more traditional longer cycle integration techniques. Product margins and inventory turns also improve as a result of shorter factory cycle times and increased labor productivity.

        Installation of our equipment is provided by factory and field teams. The process includes placing and leveling the equipment at its installation site, connecting it to sources of gas, water and electricity and recalibrating it to specifications that had previously been met during factory testing.

        Our supply chain team is globally focused and is located in Beverly and Singapore. Customized and commercially available software solutions drive our planning, purchasing and inventory tracking process. Material is supplied from a number of sources that provide OEM or product built to our detailed specifications.

        Core manufacturing competency is built around system assembly and test which remains an in house capability due to the high degree of expertise and intellectual property associated with the process and design. Non-core work is sourced to one of several global partners and includes items such as power distribution, vacuum systems, wafer handling and commodity level components. We continuously pursue outsourcing opportunities where the economics are justified, with a goal of enabling factory capacity, quality and margin improvement.

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        Beverly, Massachusetts is also the location of our Advanced Technology Center. This center houses a process development laboratory with 12,500 sq. ft. of class 10/100/1000 clean room for product demonstrations and process development and a 34,000 sq. ft. customer training center. The Advanced Technology Center provides infrastructure and process capabilities that allow customers to test their unique process steps on our product under conditions that substantially replicate the customers' production environment. This facility also provides significant capability for our research and development efforts.

Competition

        The semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment market is highly competitive and is characterized by a small number of medium to large size participants. We compete in two principal product markets in both the front-end and back-end of the semiconductor wafer fabrication process: ion implantation and dry strip. We believe that preexisting relationships have a significant influence on a customer's choice of equipment supplier. Other significant competitive factors in the semiconductor equipment market include price, cost of ownership, equipment performance, customer support, breadth of product line, distribution and financial viability.

        Ion Implantation.    In ion implantation, we compete against Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc., SEN Corporation, Nissin Electric Co., Ltd. and AIBT.

        Dry Strip.    Our principal competitors in the dry strip product market are PSK, Inc., Mattson Technology Inc. and Novellus Systems, Inc.

Intellectual Property

        We rely on patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret protection, as well as contractual restrictions, in the United States and in other countries to protect our proprietary rights in our products and our business. As of January 1, 2010, we had 306 patents issued in the United States and 375 patents granted in other countries, as well as 754 patent applications (87 in the United States and 667 in other countries) on file with various patent agencies worldwide. Patents are generally in effect for up to 20 years from the filing of the application.

        We intend to file additional patent applications and grow our intellectual property portfolio as appropriate. Although patents are important to our business, we do not believe that we are substantially dependent on any single patent or any group of patents.

        We have trademarks, both registered and unregistered, that are maintained to provide customer recognition for our products in the marketplace.

        From time to time, we enter into license agreements with third parties under which we obtain or grant rights to patented or proprietary technology. Except for our license agreement with SEN (described above under "Sale of Investment"), we do not believe that any of our licenses are currently material to us.

        We can give no assurance that we, our licensors, licensees, customers or suppliers will not be subject to claims of patent infringement or claims to invalidate our patents, or that any such claims will not be successful, requiring us to pay substantial damages or delete certain features from our products or both.

Backlog

        As of December 31, 2009, our systems backlog (excluding deferred systems revenue) was $10.8 million, as compared to $6.3 million as of December 31, 2008. Systems backlog including deferred systems revenue was $16.5 million and $20.7 million as of December 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively.

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The low level of backlog is representative of the overall downturn in the semiconductor equipment market. We believe it is meaningful to investors to include deferred systems revenue as part of our backlog. Deferred systems revenue represents revenue that will be recognized in future periods based on prior shipments. Our policy is to include in backlog only those system orders for which we have accepted purchase orders and typically are due to ship within six months. Backlog does not include orders received for our service business (spare parts, consumables and service contracts) due to the turn rate associated with that business. Generally, orders for services or parts received during the quarter are performed or shipped within the same quarter. All orders are subject to cancellations or rescheduling by customers with limited or no penalties. Due to possible changes in system delivery schedules, cancellations of orders, and delays in systems shipments, our backlog at any particular date is not necessarily indicative of our actual sales for any succeeding period. In addition, our backlog at the beginning of a quarter typically does not include all orders required to achieve our sales objectives for that quarter and is not a reliable indicator of our future sales.

Employees

        As of December 31, 2009, we had 858 employees and 6 temporary staff worldwide, of which 611 work in North America, 185 in Asia and 68 in Europe. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good. Our employees are not represented by a labor union and are not subject to a collective bargaining agreement. Some of our European locations have formed work councils, which have certain information and discussion rights under applicable law.

Environmental

        We are subject to environmental laws and regulations in the countries in which we operate that regulate, among other things: air emissions; water discharges; and the generation, use, storage, transportation, handling and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes produced by our manufacturing, research and development and sales activities. As with other companies engaged in like businesses, the nature of our operations exposes us to the risk of environmental liabilities, claims, penalties and orders. We believe, however, that our operations are in substantial compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations and that there are no pending environmental matters that would have a material impact on our business. We are ISO-14001 certified at our Beverly, MA facility.

Executive Officers of the Registrant

        Mary G. Puma, 52, has been our President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2002 and Chairman since 2005. From May 2000 until January 2002, Ms. Puma was our President and Chief Operating Officer, prior to which she served as a Vice President of Axcelis from February 1999. In 1998, she became General Manager and Vice President of the Implant Systems Division of Eaton Corporation, a global diversified industrial manufacturer. In May 1996, she joined Eaton as General Manager of the Commercial Controls Division. Prior to joining Eaton, Ms. Puma spent 15 years in various marketing and general management positions for General Electric Company. Ms. Puma is a director of Nordson Corporation, North Shore Medical Center and Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).

        Stephen G. Bassett, 62, has been our Chief Financial Officer since April 2004 and Executive Vice President, Finance since May 2005, prior to which he was Senior Vice President, Finance since 2004. Prior to that, Mr. Bassett had served as interim Chief Financial Officer for Axcelis beginning in June 2003. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Bassett served as Chief Financial Officer of Ezenia! Inc., a provider of real-time voice, video and data collaboration solutions for corporate networks and the Internet. From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Bassett worked as an independent financial consultant. From 1981 until 1996, Mr. Bassett served as an audit partner at Ernst & Young LLP, where he managed auditing services for a variety of organizations, ranging from multinational Fortune 500 companies to emerging businesses.

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        Kevin J. Brewer, 51, is our Executive Vice President, Manufacturing Operations, a position he has held since November 2008, prior to which he had been Vice President of Manufacturing Operations since October 2002 and Director of Operations from 1999 to 2002. Prior to joining Axcelis in 1999, Mr. Brewer was Director of Operations, Business Jets at Raytheon Aircraft Company, a leading manufacturer of business and special mission aircraft owned by Raytheon Company, a manufacturer of defense, government and commercial electronics, as well as aircraft. Prior to that, Mr. Brewer held various management positions in operations and strategic planning in Raytheon Company's Electronic Systems and Missile Systems groups.

        Lynnette C. Fallon, 50, has been our General Counsel and corporate Secretary since 2001 and Executive Vice President, Human Resources/Legal since May 2005. Prior to that, Ms. Fallon was Senior Vice President HR/Legal since 2002, and Senior Vice President since 2001. Before joining Axcelis, Ms. Fallon was a partner in the Boston law firm of Palmer & Dodge LLP since 1992, where she was head of the Business Law Department from 1997 to 2001.

        Matthew P. Flynn, 53, is our Executive Vice President, Global Customer Operations, a position he has held since May 2005, prior to which he was Vice President Global Customer Operations since October 2002. Before then, Mr. Flynn was Director of Sales, Ion Implant and RTP systems. Prior to joining Axcelis in 1996, Mr. Flynn held executive and management roles at Cherry Semiconductor, an integrated circuit manufacturer, and at Teledyne Inc., in its microelectronics business.

        William Bintz, 53, has been our Senior Vice President, Marketing since September 2007. Mr. Bintz joined Axcelis in early 2006 as Director of Marketing for curing and cleaning products and shortly thereafter became Vice President of Product Marketing where he expanded his responsibilities to include implant products as well. Prior to joining Axcelis, from 2002 Mr. Bintz was Product Director for Medium Current and High Energy Ion Implant System at Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. Before that, he was General Manager of the Materials Delivery Products Group at MKS Instruments, beginning in 1999, and General Manager of the Thermal Processing Systems Division at Eaton Corporation (now Axcelis) beginning in 1995.

Item 1A.    Risk Factors.

        Some of the matters discussed in this filing contain forward-looking statements regarding future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties. From time to time, we may also make other forward-looking public statements, such as statements concerning our expected future revenue or earnings or concerning the prospects for our markets or our product development, projected plans, performance, order procurement as well as other estimates relating to future operations. Forward-looking statements may be in reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), in registration statements filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), in press releases or in informal statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer. The words or phrases "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Exchange Act and Section 27A of the Securities Act, as enacted by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

        We wish to caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and represent management's expectations based on information available to them at that time. The factors listed below, as well as other factors that we may or may not have currently identified, could affect our financial or other performance and could cause our actual results for future periods to differ materially from opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods or events in any current statement.

        We will not undertake, and specifically decline, any obligation to publicly release revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect either circumstances after the date of the statements or the

10

occurrence of events that may cause us to re-evaluate our forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

        Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements or that may otherwise be made by us or on our behalf and that make an investment in our securities risky include, but are not limited to: our ability to maintain our Nasdaq listing, the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry, whether we can keep pace with rapid technological changes in the semiconductor manufacturing processes, the highly competitive nature of the semiconductor equipment industry, and quarterly fluctuations in operating results attributable to the timing and amount of orders for our products and services, as well as the other risk factors, discussed below. If any of those risk factors actually occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be seriously harmed and the trading price of our common stock could decline.

We may be unable to obtain needed additional capital to finance our operations.

        Our capital requirements may vary widely from quarter to quarter, depending on, among other things, capital expenditures, fluctuations in our operating results, financing activities, acquisitions and investments and inventory and receivables management. We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to satisfy our anticipated cash requirements through the end of 2010 and beyond, but this, of course, depends on the accuracy of our assumptions about levels of sales and expenses. A number of factors, including those described in these "Risk Factors," could prove our assumption wrong and cause us to require additional capital from external sources. Depending on market conditions, future debt or equity financings may not be possible on attractive terms or at all. In addition, future debt or equity financings could be dilutive to the existing holders of our common stock.

The general economic crisis may further hurt our business.

        Factors such as consumer spending, business investment, and the volatility and strength of the capital markets all affect the business and economic environment, and ultimately, the amount of profitability of our business. Continuing poor economic conditions may have an adverse effect on us because we are dependent on customer behavior. Our revenue is likely to continue to decline in such circumstances and our profit margins will continue to erode. In addition, as a result of extreme prolonged events, such as the current global credit crisis, we could incur significant losses

If semiconductor manufacturers do not make sufficient capital expenditures, our sales and profitability will be harmed.

        Almost all of our new orders will depend upon demand from semiconductor manufacturers who build or expand fabrication facilities. When the rate of construction or expansion of fabrication facilities declines, demand for our systems will decline, reducing our revenue. Revenue decline also hurts our profitability because our fixed cost structure and our continued investments in engineering, research and development and marketing necessary to develop new products and to maintain extensive customer service and support capabilities limit our ability to reduce expenses in proportion to declining sales.

Our financial results may fluctuate significantly.

        We derive most of our revenue from the sale of a relatively small number of expensive products to a small number of customers. The list prices on these products range from $0.2 million to over $5.0 million. At our current sales level, each sale, or failure to make a sale, has a material effect on us in a particular quarter. In a given quarter, a number of factors can adversely affect our revenue and results, including changes in our product mix, increased fixed expenses per unit due to reductions in the number of products manufactured, and higher fixed costs due to increased levels of research and development and expansion of our worldwide sales and marketing organization. Our financial results

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also fluctuate based on gross profit realized on sales. A variety of factors may cause gross profit as a percentage of revenue to vary, including the mix and average selling prices of products sold, costs to manufacture and customize systems and warranty costs. New product introductions may also affect our gross margins. Fluctuations in our results may have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

Our financial results may fall short of anticipated levels; forecasting revenue and profitability is complex and may be inaccurate.

        Management may from time to time provide financial forecasts. These forecasts are based on assumptions believed to be reasonable when made of shipment timing and contract terms. However, in some cases, the final customer terms may not have been agreed and documented at the time the forecast is made, so the level of revenue recognizable in a particular quarter may vary from the forecast. Our lengthy sales cycle, coupled with customers' competing capital budget considerations, make the timing of customer orders uneven and difficult to predict. In addition, our backlog at the beginning of a quarter typically does not include all orders required to achieve our sales objectives for that quarter and is not a reliable indicator of our future sales. As a result, our revenue and operating results for a quarter depend on our shipping orders as scheduled during that quarter, receiving customer acceptance of shipped products during the quarter, and obtaining new orders for products to be shipped in that same quarter. Any delay in, or cancellation of, scheduled shipments and customer acceptances or in shipments from new orders could materially and adversely affect our financial results.

        Accounting rules addressing revenue recognition have added additional complexity in forecasting quarterly revenue and profitability. Orders for our products usually contain multiple delivery elements that result in revenue deferral under generally accepted accounting principles. Due to the foregoing factors, investors should understand that our actual financial results for a quarter may vary significantly from our forecasts of financial performance for that quarter. Failure to meet forecast financial performance may have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

The semiconductor industry is highly cyclical and we expect that demand for our products will regularly increase and decrease, making it difficult to manage the business and potentially causing harm to our sales and profitability.

        The semiconductor business is highly cyclical, experiencing upturns when the demand for our products is high and downturns when our customers are not investing in new or expanded fabrication facilities. From time to time, inventory buildups in the semiconductor industry, resulting in part from periodic downturns, produce an oversupply of semiconductors. This will cause semiconductor manufacturers to revise capital spending plans, resulting in reduced demand for capital equipment such as our products. If an oversupply is not reduced by increasing demand from the various electronics industries that use semiconductors, which we cannot accurately predict, our sales and profitability will be harmed. Our revenue can vary significantly from one point in the cycle to another, making it difficult to manage the business, both when revenue is increasing and when it is decreasing. In addition, a substantial portion of our operating expenses are fixed and do not fluctuate with changes in volume. Significant decreases in revenue can therefore have a disproportionate effect on profitability.

If we fail to develop and introduce reliable new or enhanced products and services that meet the needs of semiconductor manufacturers, our results will suffer.

        Rapid technological changes in semiconductor manufacturing processes require us to respond quickly to changing customer requirements. Our future success will depend in part upon our ability to develop, manufacture and successfully introduce new systems and product lines with improved capabilities and to continue to enhance existing products, including products that process 300 millimeter wafers using a single wafer platform. This will depend upon a variety of factors, including

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new product selection, timely and efficient completion of product design and development and of manufacturing and assembly processes, product performance in the field and effective sales and marketing. In particular:

•

We must develop the technical specifications of competitive new systems, or enhancements to our existing systems, and manufacture and ship these systems or enhancements in volume in a timely manner.



•

We will need to accurately predict the schedule on which our customers will be ready to transition to new products, in order to accurately forecast demand for new products while managing the transition from older products.



•

We will need to effectively manage product reliability or quality problems that often exist with new systems, in order to avoid reduced orders, higher manufacturing costs, delays in acceptance and payment and additional service and warranty expenses.



•

Our new products must be accepted in the marketplace.

        Our failure to meet any of these requirements will have a material adverse effect on our operating results and profitability.

The success of our high current implant system is very important to our prospects.

        The 300 millimeter high current (high dose) market segment of ion implant is a substantial portion of the total market opportunity available to Axcelis. As a result, our future success is particularly dependent on our ability to successfully gain market share with our single wafer ion implant system, the Optima HDx. We were late to market with the Optima HD system, so we are competing against established competitive offerings for the high current 300 millimeter ion implant market. Our ability to gain market share with the Optima HDx is dependent on the factors discussed above. If we are unable to do so, our financial condition and results will suffer.

If we fail to compete successfully in the highly competitive semiconductor equipment industry, our sales and profitability will decline.

        The market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment is highly competitive and includes companies with substantially greater financial, engineering, manufacturing, marketing and customer service and support resources than we have that may be better positioned to compete successfully in the industry. In addition, there are smaller, emerging semiconductor equipment companies that provide innovative systems with technology that may have performance advantages over our systems. We expect our competitors to continue to improve the design and performance of their existing products and processes and to introduce new products and processes with improved price and performance characteristics. If we are unable to improve or introduce competing products when demanded by the markets, our business will be harmed. In addition, if competitors enter into strategic relationships with leading semiconductor manufacturers covering products similar to those sold or being developed by us, our ability to sell products to those manufacturers may be adversely affected. Finally, if we must lower prices to remain competitive without commensurate cost of goods savings, our gross margins and profitability will be adversely affected.

We have been dependent on sales to a limited number of large customers; the loss of any of these customers or any reduction in orders from them could materially affect our sales.

        Historically, we have sold a significant portion of our products and services to a limited number of fabricators of semiconductor products. For example, in 2009, our top ten customers accounted for 56.6% of our net sales. None of our customers has entered into a long-term agreement requiring it to purchase our products. Although the composition of the group comprising our largest customers has

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varied from year to year, the loss of a significant customer or any reduction or delays in orders from any significant customer could adversely affect us. The ongoing consolidation of semiconductor manufacturers may also increase the harmful effect of losing one or more significant customers.

Axcelis is subject to the risks of operating internationally and we derive a substantial portion of our revenue from outside the United States, especially from Asia.

        We are substantially dependent on sales of our products and services to customers outside the United States. International sales, including export sales from our U.S. manufacturing facilities to non-U.S. customers and sales by our non-U.S. subsidiaries and branches, accounted for 62.8% of total revenue in 2009, 64.7% in 2008, and 67.0% in 2007. System shipments to Asian customers represented 76% of total shipment dollars in 2009 in comparison to 50% of total shipment dollars in 2008. We anticipate that international sales will continue to account for a significant portion of our revenue. Because of our dependence upon international sales, our results and prospects may be adversely affected by a number of factors, including:

•

unexpected changes in laws or regulations resulting in more burdensome governmental controls, tariffs, restrictions, embargoes or export license requirements;



•

difficulties in obtaining required export licenses;



•

volatility in currency exchange rates;



•

political and economic instability, particularly in Asia;



•

difficulties in accounts receivable collections;



•

extended payment terms beyond those customarily offered in the United States;



•

difficulties in managing distributors or representatives outside the United States;



•

difficulties in staffing and managing foreign subsidiary and branch operations; and



•

potentially adverse tax consequences.

We may not be able to maintain and expand our business if we are not able to hire, retain and integrate qualified personnel.

        Our business depends on our ability to attract and retain qualified, experienced employees. There is substantial competition for experienced engineering, technical, financial, sales and marketing personnel in our industry. In particular, we must attract and retain highly skilled design and process engineers. Competition for such personnel is intense, particularly in the Boston metropolitan area, as well as in other locations around the world. If we are unable to retain our existing key personnel, or attract and retain additional qualified personnel, we may from time to time experience levels of staffing inadequate to develop, manufacture and market our products and perform services for our customers. As a result, our growth could be limited or we could fail to meet our delivery commitments or experience deterioration in service levels or decreased customer satisfaction, all of which could adversely affect our financial results.

Our dependence upon a limited number of suppliers for many components and sub-assemblies could result in increased costs or delays in the manufacture and sale of our products.

        We rely to a substantial extent on outside vendors to manufacture many of the components and sub-assemblies of our products. We obtain many of these components and sub-assemblies from either a sole source or a limited group of suppliers. Accordingly, we may be unable to obtain an adequate supply of required components on a timely basis, on price and other terms acceptable to us, or at all.

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        In addition, we often quote prices to our customers and accept customer orders for our products before purchasing components and sub-assemblies from our suppliers. If our suppliers increase the cost of components or sub-assemblies, we may not have alternative sources of supply and may not be able to raise the price of our products to cover all or part of the increased cost of components.

        The manufacture of some of these components and sub-assemblies is an extremely complex process and requires long lead times. As a result, we have in the past and may in the future experience delays or shortages. If we are unable to obtain adequate and timely deliveries of our required components or sub-assemblies, we may have to seek alternative sources of supply or manufacture these components internally. This could delay our ability to manufacture or to ship our systems on a timely basis, causing us to lose sales, incur additional costs, delay new product introductions and suffer harm to our reputation.

Our international operations involve currency risk.

        Substantially all of our sales are billed in U.S. dollars, thereby reducing the impact of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates on our results. Operating margins of certain foreign operations can fluctuate with changes in foreign exchange rates to the extent revenue is billed in U.S. dollars and operating expenses are incurred in the local functional currency. During the year ended December 31, 2009, approximately 37% of our revenue was derived from foreign operations with this inherent risk. In addition, at December 31, 2009, our operations outside of the United States accounted for approximately 39% of our total assets, the majority of which was denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

Our stock price has been volatile and you could lose the value of your investment.

        Our stock price has been volatile and has fluctuated significantly to date. The trading price of our stock is likely to continue to be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations. Your investment in our stock could lose value. Some of the factors that could significantly affect the market price of our stock include:

•

actual or anticipated variations in results;



•

analyst reports or recommendations;



•

changes in interest rates; and



•

other events and factors, many of which are beyond our control.

        The stock market in general has experienced extreme price fluctuations.

Our proprietary technology may be vulnerable to efforts by competitors to challenge or design around, potentially reducing our market share.

        We rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trademark and trade secret laws, non-disclosure agreements and other intellectual property protection methods to protect our proprietary technology. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property, our competitors may be able to legitimately ascertain the non-patented proprietary technology embedded in our systems. If this occurs, we may not be able to prevent their use of this technology. Our means of protecting our proprietary rights may not be adequate and our patents may not be sufficiently broad to prevent others from using technology that is similar to or the same as our technology. In addition, patents issued to us have been, or might be challenged, and might be invalidated or circumvented and any rights granted under our patents may not provide adequate protection to us. Our competitors may independently develop similar technology, duplicate features of our products or design around patents that may be issued to us. As a result of these threats to our proprietary technology, we may have to resort to costly litigation to enforce or

15

defend our intellectual property rights. Finally, all patents expire after a period of time (in the U.S., patents expire 20 years from the date of filing of the patent application). Our market share could be negatively impacted by the expiration of a patent which had created a barrier for our competitors.

        Axcelis also has agreements with third parties for licensing of patented or proprietary technology with Axcelis as the licensor or the licensee. Termination of license agreements could have an adverse impact on our financial performance or ability to ship products with existing configurations.

We (or customers that we indemnify) might face intellectual property infringement claims or patent disputes that may be costly to resolve and, if resolved against us, could be very costly to us and prevent us from making and selling our systems.

        From time to time, claims and proceedings have been or may be asserted against us relative to patent validity or infringement matters. We typically agree to indemnify our customers from liability to third parties for intellectual property infringement arising from the use of our products in their intended manner. Therefore, we occasionally receive notification from customers who believe that we owe them indemnification or other obligations related to infringement claims made against the customers by third parties. Our involvement in any patent dispute or other intellectual property dispute or action to protect trade secrets, even if the claims are without merit, could be very expensive to defend and could divert the attention of our management. Adverse determinations in any litigation could subject us to significant liabilities to third parties, require us to seek costly licenses from third parties and prevent us from manufacturing and selling our systems. In addition, infringement indemnification clauses in system sale agreements may require us to take other actions or require us to provide certain remedies to customers who are exposed to indemnified liabilities. Any of these situations could have a material adverse effect on our business results.

If operations were disrupted at Axcelis' primary manufacturing facility it would have a negative impact on our business.

        We have one primary manufacturing facility, located in Massachusetts. Its operations could be subject to disruption for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to natural disasters, work stoppages, operational facility constraints and terrorism. Such disruption could cause delays in shipments of products to our customers and could result in cancellation of orders or loss of customers, which could seriously harm our business.

Item 1B.    Unresolved Staff Comments.

        None.

Item 2.    Properties.

        We own one property and lease 44 properties, of which 14 are located in the United States and the remainder are located in Asia and Europe, including offices in Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Italy, and Germany.

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        Our principal facilities are listed below:

        Although we are currently operating significantly below normal capacity as a result of the continuing downturn in the industry, we believe that there is no material long-term, excess capacity in our manufacturing facilities, although utilization is subject to change based on customer demand. We believe that our manufacturing facilities and equipment generally are well maintained, in good operating condition, suitable for our purposes, and adequate for our present operations. Our Beverly, Massachusetts facility is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified and all other locations are ISO 9001 certified.

Item 3.    Legal Proceedings.

        The Company is not presently a party to any litigation that it believes might have a material adverse effect on its business operations. The Company is, from time to time, a party to litigation that arises in the normal course of its business operations.

Item 4.    Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.

        None.

PART II

Item 5.    Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

        Our common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ACLS. The following table sets forth the high and low sale prices as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market during each of the quarters for the two most recent years. As of March 15, 2010, we had approximately 5,485 stockholders of record. We have not paid any cash dividends in the past five years and do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the future.

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Item 6.    Selected Financial Data.

        The following selected consolidated statements of operations data for each of the three years ended December 31, 2009, 2008, and 2007 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2009 and 2008 have been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements contained in Item 15 of Part IV of this Form 10-K. The selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2007 and 2006, and the statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005, has been derived from the audited financial statements contained in our Form 10-K filed on March 17, 2008. The consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2005 has been derived from the audited financial statements contained in our Form 10-K filed on March 14, 2006.

        The historical financial information set forth below may not be indicative of our future performance and should be read together with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our historical consolidated financial statements and notes to those statements included in Item 7 of Part II and Item 15 of Part IV, respectively, of this Form 10-K.

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Item 7.    Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

        Certain statements in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Words such as may, will, should, would, anticipates, expects, intends, plans, believes, seeks, estimates and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, among other things, those set forth under "Liquidity and Capital Resources" and "Risk Factors" and others discussed elsewhere in this Form 10-K. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's analysis only as of the date hereof. We assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in factors or assumptions affecting forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

Overview

        The semiconductor capital equipment industry is subject to significant cyclical swings in capital spending by semiconductor manufacturers. Capital spending is influenced by demand for semiconductors and the products using them, the utilization rate and capacity of existing semiconductor manufacturing facilities and changes in semiconductor technology, all of which are outside of our control. As a result, our revenue and gross margins, to the extent affected by increases or decreases in volume, could fluctuate from year to year and period to period. The industry experienced a downturn beginning in the second half of 2007 which extended through 2009, although signs of improvement began during the fourth quarter of 2009. Our gross margins are also affected by the introduction of new products. We typically become more efficient in manufacturing products as they mature. Our expense base is largely fixed and does not vary significantly with changes in volume. Therefore, we could experience fluctuations in operating results and cash flows depending on our revenue as driven by the level of capital expenditures by semiconductor manufacturers.

        The sizable expense of building, upgrading or expanding a semiconductor fabrication facility is increasingly causing semiconductor companies to contract with foundries to manufacture their semiconductors. In addition, consolidation and partnering within the semiconductor manufacturing industry is increasing. We expect these trends to continue to reduce the number of our potential customers. This growing concentration of Axcelis' customers may increase competitive pricing as higher percentages of our total revenue are tied to the buying decisions of a particular customer or a small number of customers.

        In 2009, 2008, and 2007, we incurred net losses. Beginning in 2004, most customers shifted from multi wafer tools to single wafer tools for high current ion implant applications. Because we were late to market with a single wafer high current product, we experienced a significant loss of market share. We introduced our single wafer Optima HD (for high current applications) product in 2006 and have gained traction with this tool at a number of customers.

        Although we believe that we have competitive products, challenging market conditions have severely limited our ability to increase sales and market share. Additionally, in concert with the market uncertainty resulting from the recent credit crisis, we believe that the economic downturn which is characterized by higher unemployment, lower corporate earnings, lower business investment and lower consumer spending, has severely impacted many technology manufacturers and has significantly lowered the demand for our products. The Company believes that a combination of these factors accounts for the difference between our stock trading price and our book value.

        As described in "Business—Sale of Investment in SEN," on March 30, 2009, the Company sold all of the Company's common shares in SEN to SHI, in exchange for a cash payment of 13 billion Yen,

19

which resulted in proceeds of approximately $132.8 million before advisor fees and other expenses of $10.6 million. The sale price was determined through an arm's length negotiation. This transaction terminated all prior agreements among the three parties relating to the SEN joint venture. In addition, the arbitration with SEN initiated by Axcelis in Tokyo, Japan was dismissed.

        In connection with the sale of its investment in SEN, on March 30, 2009, the Company and SEN entered into a cross License Agreement pursuant to which the parties may use certain technical information on a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide basis, provided that the Company and SEN received sole exclusive licenses for 4 years in the U.S. and Japan, respectively. The sale of the Company's investment in SEN resulted in a gain of approximately $1.1 million. This gain includes net proceeds of $122.2 million (after payment of advisor fees and other costs of $10.6 million) and cumulative foreign translation gain of $23.5 million, previously recorded in other comprehensive income, reduced by the carrying value of the investment on the date of sale of $144.6 million. The gain from sale of the Company's investment in SEN is recorded in other income. A portion of the proceeds of the sale were used to pay off, in full, the amounts due to the holder of the Company's 4.25% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes.

        Axcelis' liquidity is affected by many factors. Some of these factors are based on normal operations of the business, including sale of Optima products in inventory, and others relate to the uncertainties of global economies, including the availability of credit, and the state of the semiconductor equipment industry. Although our cash requirements fluctuate based on the timing and extent of these factors, based on our current market, revenue and expense forecast we believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to satisfy our anticipated cash requirements in the short and long-term.

        Operating results for the years presented are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for future interim periods or years as a whole.

Critical Accounting Estimates

        Management's discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon Axcelis' consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to revenue recognition, income taxes, accounts receivable, inventory and warranty obligations. Management's estimates are based on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

        We believe the following accounting policies are critical in the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require management's most significant judgments and estimates in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

Revenue Recognition

        Our revenue recognition policy involves significant judgment by management. As described below, we consider a broad array of facts and circumstances in determining when to recognize revenue, including contractual obligations to the customer, the complexity of the customer's post delivery acceptance provisions, payment history, customer creditworthiness and the installation process. In the future, if the post delivery acceptance provisions and installation process become more complex or result in a materially lower rate of acceptance, we may have to revise our revenue recognition policy, which could delay the timing of revenue recognition.

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        Axcelis' revenue transactions include sales of products under multiple element arrangements. Revenue under these arrangements is allocated to each element, except systems, based upon its estimated fair market value. The amount of revenue allocated to systems is calculated on a residual method. Under this method, the total value of the arrangement is allocated first to the undelivered elements, with the residual amount being allocated to product revenue.

        The value of the undelivered elements includes (a) the greater of (i) the fair value of the installation or (ii) the portion of the sales price that will not be received until the installation is completed (the "retention") plus (b) the fair value of all other undelivered elements. The amount allocated to installation is based upon the fair value of the service performed, including labor, which is based upon the estimated time to complete the installation at hourly rates, and material components. The fair value of all other undelivered elements is based upon the price charged when these elements are sold separately. Product revenue for products which have demonstrated market acceptance (legacy products), is generally recognized upon shipment provided title and risk of loss has passed to the customer, evidence of an arrangement exists, prices are contractually fixed or determinable, collection is reasonably assured through historical collection results and regular credit evaluations, and there are no uncertainties regarding customer acceptance. Revenue from installation services is recognized at the time formal acceptance is received from the customer or, for certain customers, when both the formal acceptance and retention payment have been received. Revenue for other elements is recognized at the time products are shipped or the related services are performed.

        We generally recognize systems revenue for products which have demonstrated market acceptance (legacy products), at the time of shipment because the customer's post-delivery acceptance provisions and installation process have been established to be routine, commercially inconsequential and perfunctory. The majority of Axcelis' systems are designed and tailored to meet the customer's specifications, as outlined in the contract between the customer and Axcelis, which may be the Axcelis standard specification. To ensure that the customer's specifications are satisfied, many customers request that new systems be tested at Axcelis' facilities prior to shipment, normally with the customer present, under conditions that substantially replicate the customer's production environment and the customer's criteria are confirmed to have been met. Customers of mature products generally do not require pre-shipment testing. We believe the risk of failure to complete a system installation is remote. Should an installation not be completed successfully, the contractual provisions do not provide for forfeiture, refund or other purchase price concession beyond those prescribed by the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code applicable generally to such transactions.

        For initial shipments of systems with new technologies or in the small number of instances where Axcelis is unsure of meeting the customer's specifications or obtaining customer acceptance upon shipment of the system, Axcelis will defer the recognition of systems revenue and related costs until written customer acceptance of the system is obtained. This deferral period is generally within twelve months of shipment.

        Revenue related to maintenance and service contracts is recognized ratably over the duration of the contracts, or based on parts usage, where appropriate. Revenue related to service hours is recognized when the services are performed.

        Royalty revenue is primarily earned under the terms of our license agreement with SEN. Royalty revenue is recorded at the time SEN notifies the Company that royalties have been earned.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

        We record impairment losses on long-lived assets when events and circumstances indicate that long-lived assets might not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by a comparison of the assets' carrying amount to their expected future undiscounted net cash flows. If such assets are considered to

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be impaired, the impairment is measured based on the amount by which the carrying value exceeds its fair value.

        During the fourth quarter of 2008, we experienced a sustained market capitalization below book value, as well as a significant decline in our business that led us to revise our short-term financial forecasts. As a result, we recorded a total intangible and long-lived asset impairment charge at December 31, 2008 of $46.9 million. This charge consisted of intangibles of $8.3 million, certain other assets of $21.1 million and property, plant and equipment of $17.5 million. During 2009, we continued to experience events and circumstances which indicated that a further impairment of long-lived assets may have occurred. The significant decline in our stock price continued through most of 2009, and we continued to maintain a market capitalization significantly below book value. In addition, the estimated future total market for our products, which was significantly revised downward in the fourth quarter of 2008, showed only modest signs of recovery as of December 31, 2009. However, recent industry market forecasts anticipate greater recovery in 2010.

        Accordingly, as of December 31, 2009, we performed an analysis comparing undiscounted cash flows estimated to be generated by the long-lived assets to the carrying amounts of those assets. The estimates of future operating results and cash flows are derived from our updated long-term financial forecast. This updated long-term forecast represents the best estimate that we have at this time and we believe that its underlying assumptions are reasonable, based primarily on current product performance and customer acceptance. This forecast relies primarily on market assumptions and market share we expect to achieve. As of December 31, 2009, our analysis indicated that the carrying amounts for long-lived assets are expected to be recovered. As such, we did not record an impairment charge for the year ended December 31, 2009. However, actual performance could be materially different from our current forecasts, which could impact future estimates of undiscounted cash flows and may result in the impairment of the carrying amount of the long-lived assets in the future. This could be caused by strategic decisions made in response to economic and competitive conditions, the impact of the economic environment on our customer base, or a material adverse change in our relationships with significant customers. Accordingly we will continue to perform this analysis no less than quarterly for the foreseeable future.

Accounts Receivable—Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

        We record an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from the inability of our customers to make required payments. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances may be necessary.

Inventory—Allowance for Excess and Obsolescence

        We record an allowance for estimated excess and obsolete inventory. The allowance is determined using management's assumptions of materials usage, based on estimates of forecasted and historical demand and market conditions. If actual market conditions become less favorable than those projected by management, additional inventory write-downs may be required.

        Although we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our forecasts or product demand and pricing assumptions, any significant unanticipated changes in demand, pricing, or technical developments would significantly impact the value of our inventory and our reported operating results. In the future, if we find that estimates are too optimistic and determine that inventory needs to be written down, the Company will recognize such costs in our cost of revenue at the time of such determination. Conversely, if we find our estimates are too pessimistic and we subsequently sell product that has previously been written down, our gross margin in that period will be favorably impacted.

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Product Warranty

        We offer a one to three year product warranty, the terms and conditions of which vary depending upon the product sold. For all systems sold, we accrue a liability for the estimated cost of standard warranty at the time of system shipment and defer the portion of systems revenue attributable to the fair value of non-standard warranty. Costs for non-standard warranty are expensed as incurred. Factors that affect our warranty liability include the number of installed units, historical and anticipated product failure rates, material usage and service labor costs. We periodically assess the adequacy of our recorded liability and adjust the amount as necessary.

Results of Operations

        The following table sets forth our results of operations as a percentage of total revenue for the periods indicated:

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