Thursday, December 8, 2005
The installation of manufacturing capacity for 65-nm processes and on 300-mm diameter wafers is set to drive a gradually accelerating boom in semiconductor production equipment spending in the years 2006 through 2008 according to a consensus forecast published by the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International industry organization.
Annual semiconductor equipment market growth percentages of 9.1 percent, 12.3 percent and 15.4 percent for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively are set to make up for 11.2 percent market contraction being experienced by the industry as it moves from $37.11 billion in 2004 to $32.95 billion in 2005, according to SEMI’s numbers.
The SEMI year-end consensus forecast is based on interviews conducted between late October and November 2005 with companies sell more than half the world’s semiconductor equipment industry sales volume. The survey respondents see the market growing at a single-digit rate in 2006 and resuming double-digit growth over the following two years to reach $46.63 billion in 2008.
South Korea, which essentially means Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in this context, stands out as a beacon of high-spending in 2005. That geographical region is expected to expand purchases of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from $4.61 billion in 2004 to $5.89 billion in 2005.
“Capital spending in 2005 reflects an anticipated cyclic decline following the very high investment levels of the prior year. However, this remains the third strongest year for worldwide semiconductor equipment sales,” said Stanley Myers, SEMI president and chief executive officer, in a statement. “Furthermore, SEMI members expect the equipment market to continue posting sequential gains over the next three years as chipmakers continue to invest in 300-mm fabs and 65-nm technology.”
The SEMI forecast indicates that the final manufacturing equipment segments will experience the sharpest declines this year. Survey respondents anticipate that the market for assembly and packaging equipment will contract 19 percent to $1.99 billion in 2005. The market for equipment to test semiconductors is expected to decline about 17 percent to $5.27 billion this year. Wafer processing equipment, the largest product segment by dollar value, is expected to decline nearly 10 percent in 2005 to $22.97 billion.
By: DocMemory
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