Taiwan was the top spender on semiconductor equipment in the first quarter of this year, global semiconductor trade association SEMI said on Wednesday.
Taiwan spent US$6.93 billion on semiconductor equipment during the period, up 42 percent from a year earlier, but down 13 percent from the previous quarter, SEMI data showed.
The association represents companies in the electronic manufacturing and design supply chain.
Photo: Reuters
China was the second-biggest spender with US$5.86 billion, down 23 percent from a year earlier and 8 percent from last quarter, the data showed.
South Korea came in third with US$5.62 billion, up 9 percent from last year, but down 3 percent from a quarter earlier.
North America was the fourth-largest market with spending of US$3.93 billion, rising 50 percent from a year earlier and 51 percent from a quarter earlier, making it the fastest-growing market in the world, SEMI said.
Japan took fifth place after spending US$1.9 billion on semiconductor equipment, little changed annually, but falling 16 percent quarterly.
Europe ranked sixth with spending of US$1.52 billion, up 19 percent from a year earlier and 4 percent from a quarter earlier.
In the first quarter, total semiconductor equipment spending worldwide totaled US$26.8 billion, up 9 percent from a year earlier, but down 3 percent from a quarter earlier, the data showed.
Semiconductor spending remained solid, even though the global economy was facing significant challenges, SEMI said, adding that emerging applications such as artificial intelligence continued to grow, paving the way for the long-term growth of the IC industry.
Last year, global semiconductor equipment spending totaled US$107.6 billion, up 5 percent from a year earlier. China was the largest buyer with US$28.27 billion of spending, down 5 percent from a year earlier.
Taiwan ranked second with US$26.82 billion of spending, up 8 percent from a year earlier.
South Korea followed with US$21.51 billion, down 14 percent from a year earlier.
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