Semiconductor equipment spending to drop 45% in 2009
Chipmakers have cut back on equipment purchases due to the recession and weaker chip demand
By Jim Carbone -- Purchasing, 3/13/2009 12:20:00 PM
Worldwide semiconductor capital equipment spending will drop a dramatic 45.2% this year to $16.9 billion because of the worldwide economic downturn, according to researcher Gartner Inc.
Capital spending will bounce back by about 20% to $20.3 billion in 2010, says the researcher.
“The dramatic crisis in world economics slowed capital spending in all segments of the semiconductor market,” said Klaus Rinnen, managing vice president for Gartner’s semiconductor manufacturing group.
Specifically, global wafer fab equipment spending is forecast to decrease 46% in 2009, after a drop of 31% in 2008. In 2009, lithography spending will drop more steeply the overall market, showing a 52% decline compared with the total market drop of 46%.
After declining nearly 30% in 2008, the packaging and assembly equipment (PAE) market is expected to fall nearly an additional 47% in 2009. Some recovery for advanced process equipment could be seen in the second half of this year.
The automated test equipment (ATE) market is projected to decline 34% in 2009. Macroeconomic conditions, as well as general industry conditions, will have to improve for quarterly growth to return in the middle of this year.
Semiconductor equipment spending drops
08/13/2008
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