Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales increased 10.3% to $22.8 billion according to market researcher Gartner, Inc.

The three major sectors in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment market experienced revenue increases in 2003. Wafer fab equipment sales grew 3.6% in 2003. In the back-end, packaging and assembly equipment increased 30.5% and automated test equipment (ATE) grew 39.4%.

"Semiconductor manufacturing equipment shipments were focused on upgrades at existing facilities, production capacities for 0.13 micron, advanced packaging capacity and system-on-chip test capability," says Klaus Rinnen, vice president for Gartner's semiconductor manufacturing and design research group.

Vendors experienced mixed results in 2003. The market was kinder to companies in longer leadtime segments. Despite a 12% decline in revenue, Applied Materials was the number one vendor based on global semiconductor equipment sales in 2003.

Tokyo Electron had a strong year because of its strength in the dynamic RAM (DRAM) segment. Advantest, the world's largest test company, experienced the strongest growth among the top-tier vendors as its revenue increased 114%.

Regionally, semiconductor manufacturing equipment demand in Japan rose 39% in 2003. Europe saw the second strongest growth with 16 percent, but the Americas region suffered a 17.5% decline in equipment sales in 2003.