Gartner: Fab tool revenue grew 143% in 2010
4/4/2011 12:27 PM EDT
eetimes.com
SAN FRANCISCO—Worldwide semiconductor equipment sales grew 143 percent in 2010 to nearly $41 billion as the market recovered from the industry slowdown of the previous two years, according market research firm Gartner Inc.
All major market segments grew significantly in 2010 with automatic test equipment (ATE) sales up by 149 percent, wafer fab equipment (WFE) sales up by 145 percent and sales of packaging assembly equipment (PAE) up by 127 percent, Gartner (Stamford, Conn.) said.
"The semiconductor equipment market soared in 2010. Driven by the pent-up demand from the 2008 and 2009 downturn, and a stronger economy than projected, 2010 just kept getting better and better," said Klaus Rinnen, managing vice president at Gartner. "Memory and foundry spending were the key drivers, although all areas showed significant growth."
Collectively, the top 10 semiconductor capital equipment companies increased market share by nearly 2 points in 2010, accounting for 63.4 percent of total revenue, according to Gartner.
Rinnen said 2010 saw a number of changes to the ranking of the top 10 semiconductor capital equipment companies, as strength in lithography double patterning benefited some companies more than others. Market-leading lithography vendor ASML Holding NV slipped passt Tokyo Electronic NV slipped past Tokyo Electron Ltd. to claim the No. 2 sport on the list, while rival Nikon Precision Inc. slipped to ninth place from sixth in 2009, according to Gartner (see chart below).
Applied Materials Inc., which has held the top spot in the semiconductor equipment market for more than 15 years, retained its No. 1 ranking again in 2010, according to Gartner.
Last week, VLSI Research Inc. issued its top 10 ranking of WFE suppliers. The lists contain some differences, at least partly because Gartner lumped ATE and packaging/assembly equipment vendors in with WFE suppliers.
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