Semiconductor equipment sales to reach $37.5 billion in 2010

TOKYO, JAPAN: SEMI projects 2010 semiconductor equipment sales to reach $37.54 billion according to the year-end edition of the SEMI Capital Equipment Forecast, released here today by SEMI at the annual SEMICON Japan exposition.

The forecast indicates that, following a 46 percent market decline in 2009, the equipment market will expand by 136 percent in 2010 and experience annual growth of about 4 percent in 2011 and another 4 percent in 2012. Revenues of $37.54 billion place equipment spending this year on par with 2004 investment levels.

"In terms of year-over-year growth, 2010 will be a record year for the semiconductor equipment market," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "SEMI remains cautiously optimistic about the industry’s growth prospects over the next two years given the pervasiveness of semiconductors in the products we use every day."

Wafer processing equipment, the largest product segment by dollar value, is expected to increase 137 percent in 2010 to $28.11 billion. The forecast predicts that the market for assembly and packaging equipment will grow by 155 percent to $3.59 billion in 2010. The market for semiconductor test equipment is also forecasted to grow by 155 percent to reach $3.96 billion this year.

Growth is forecasted for all regions in 2010, with Taiwan being the largest market for equipment followed by South Korea. North America will be the third largest market for overall spending on semiconductor equipment. China, Korea, Rest of World, Europe, and Taiwan regions will experience growth rates over 100 percent.

The following results are given in terms of market size in billions of U.S. dollars and percentage growth over the prior year:*Totals and percentages may differ due to rounding of numbers.
Source: SEMI November 2010