Semi equipment sales to fall 20% to $34bn in 2008

Industry association Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said 2008 semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales will fall approximately 20% this year to $34.12 billion.
While this drop follows 6% market growth in 2007, SEMI believes the semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry will experience a rebound with annual growth of 13% in 2009, and 6% in 2010.
"We began to see equipment spending declines during the second half of 2007, driven by lower spending in the memory sector and a less than favorable device pricing environment. However, expectations for 2009 are leaning toward a solid industry recovery and subsequent growth in the low double digits, ," Myers commented in a statement.
Wafer processing equipment, which is the largest product segment by dollar value, is expected to contract 21% this year to $25.4 billion, while the market for assembly and packaging equipment will decline by 14% to $2.44 billion.
At the same time, SEMI expects the market for semiconductor test equipment to decline by 20% to $4.04 billion this year.
On a geographic basis, SEMI said growth is expected to be negative in all regions, except China, where equipment sales are projected to increase 1% over 2007, with the new equipment market in China expected to surpass both the European and Rest of the World markets this year.
Meanwhile, SEMI predicts the Japanese market will reclaim the number 1 spot from Taiwan, thanks to significant capital expenditure cutbacks in Taiwan this year, with Taiwan expected to fall back to the number 2 spot, followed by South Korea at number 3.

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