Semiconductor capital equipment spending to soar

Worldwide semiconductor capital equipment spending is expected to pass US$29.4bn (A$32.33bn) in 2010, according to the latest figures from Gartner, marking a 76.1 percent increase on the US$16.7bn (A$18.36 bn) in 2009.

The analyst firm said that it expects all segments of the semiconductor capital equipment market to experience "extremely strong" double-digit growth in the coming year, after significant declines in 2009.

Jim Walker, research vice president at Gartner, explained that the projected growth is down to the easing of the recession, and that he anticipates the recovery to continue for several years to come.

"We expect this upturn to be one of the first in which the peak revenue in capital equipment does not surpass previous growth cycles, which may well help to mitigate the boom-and-bust we have seen in the past," he said.

The Gartner figures suggest that future growth in capital equipment spending will increase by 24 percent in 2011 and 17.9 percent in 2012, but will then see a drop of 16.8 percent in 2013 before levelling out at 0.8 percent growth in 2014.

Walker added that increased spending in the memory and foundry markets, along with advances in new technology nodes, will also help drive semiconductor equipment sales in the first half of 2010.

The figures will be further welcome news for the industry. Gartner said last week that sales of touch-screen mobile devices will rise by 97 percent this year, while the launch of Apple's iPad could see sales of traditional and next-generation tablet devices reach 10.5 million worldwide.