Taiwan remained the third-largest semiconductor equipment spender in the second quarter of this year, global semiconductor trade association SEMI said yesterday.
Data released by SEMI, which represents companies in the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, showed that Taiwan purchased US$5.04 billion of equipment for semiconductor production in the second quarter, down 12 percent from a quarter earlier.
The first half of the year is usually the slow season for Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers to expand production and the sequential decline in the second quarter was no surprise, analysts said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
It is likely that the local semiconductor industry would accelerate its expansion in the second half by spending more on production equipment, boosting Taiwan’s ranking, they said.
China was the world’s largest semiconductor spender in the second quarter, replacing South Korea, after purchasing US$8.22 billion of equipment, up 38 percent from a quarter earlier, SEMI said.
The growth in China was the highest among the major semiconductor equipment spenders, it said.
South Korea, the second-largest spender, purchased US$6.62 billion of equipment in the quarter, down 9 percent from a quarter earlier, SEMI said.
Japan was fourth after purchasing US$1.77 billion of equipment, up 7 percent from a quarter earlier, ahead of North America, which spent US$1.68 billion, up 25 percent from the first quarter, it said.
Shipments of semiconductor equipment worldwide hit a record US$24.9 billion in the second quarter, up 5 percent from a quarter earlier and 48 percent from a year earlier, SEMI said.
In a research report released in July, SEMI forecast that semiconductor equipment shipments would hit a new record of US$95.3 billion this year, up 34 percent from a year earlier, as suppliers are keen to invest in production expansion to support long-term growth at a time of solid global demand for technology gadgets.
Taiwan, South Korea and China would be the top three equipment spenders this year, it said.
Equipment spending by the integrated circuit manufacturing segment — including pure foundry operators, memorychip producers and masking service providers — is expected to grow 34 percent year-on-year to US$81.7 billion this year.
Terry Tsao (曹世綸), global chief marketing officer and Taiwan president of SEMI, said that Taiwan’s semiconductor equipment spending is expected to continue to grow next year and that it would be the world’s largest market next year.
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