SEMI predicts: China will become the largest market for semiconductor equipment

Reference News reported on July 13 that Japanese media reported that the International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Organization (SEMI) released a forecast on July 9 that global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment in 2019 will decrease by 18% year-on-year to US$52.7 billion (US$1 is approximately RMB 6.9). Semiconductor manufacturers are curbing equipment investment. The data released this time is lower than the expectation at the end of 2018 (US$59.6 billion).

According to a report on the Nikkei website on July 10, the semiconductor demand for smartphones and data centers is sluggish, and the trend of reducing equipment investment is expanding among semiconductor manufacturers, so the International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Organization has lowered its expectations. Dave Anderson, president of SEMI North America, who held a press conference, emphasized that it is still at a historically high level, but there is a sense of stagnation in the industry.

According to the report, the latest forecast released by SEMI shows that except for Taiwan and the United States, all regions are expected to decline year-on-year. In particular, South Korea, where memory giants Samsung and SK Hynix are located, has seen a significant decline.

Global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment are expected to reach $58.8 billion in 2020, up 12% from 2019 due to the recovery of memory investment and the construction and expansion of factories in mainland China. SEMI predicts that by 2020, sales to mainland China, including foreign-funded factories, will reach $14.5 billion, and mainland China is expected to become the largest market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

According to the report, the above forecast was made public at the annual semiconductor equipment conference "Semiconductor West" which opened in San Francisco, the United States on July 9. A relevant person in charge expressed his opinion on Japan's tightening of semiconductor material export controls on South Korea, saying that "it may have almost no impact (on the demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment)".