Monday, December 7, 2009

Spending on fab projects will grow 66 percent in 2010, but few new fabs are expected

SAN JOSE, USA: According to the World Fab Forecast report released today by SEMI, 2010 spending on worldwide fab projects, including construction, facilities, and equipping, is expected to grow by 66 percent over 2009 levels.

The coming year will see IDMs and foundries investing in leading-edge equipment for technology upgrades, but plans for new fabs will be minimal for the industry. For 2009, spending improved in the second half of the year, and this growth is expected to continue into 2010. This trend is based on announced capital expenditures by a number of semiconductor manufacturers over recent months. The largest six spenders in 2010 are expected to Samsung, Intel, TSMC, Flash Alliance, Globalfoundries, and Inotera.

“Spending on fab projects in 2009 is expected to be below $15.5 billion, which is the lowest level in more than 15 years,” said Christian Gregor Dieseldorff, senior analyst of fab information of the SEMI Industry Research and Statistics group. “Spending in 2010 is expected to increase by about 66 percent to $25.7B, with about 23 projects resuming or starting up.”

A total of 49 facilities have closed or will close by the end of 2010, so total installed capacity will decline -4 percent to -5 percent for 2009. Looking to 2010, installed capacity is forecasted to grow by 4 percent to 5 percent compared to 2009; however, this translated to no net capacity growth from 2008 to 2010.

With a number of new construction plans shelved over the past year, additional capacity over the next year or so will be limited. Should the industry show consistent stability and growth, device makers may change their plans quickly and new fab construction may mushroom to meet the need for more capacity in 2010 and 2011.

Source: SEMI, USA

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