Semiconductor-making equipment demand seen up
NEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Demand for equipment used in the first stages of manufacturing by semiconductor equipment makers is expected to grow by more than 43 percent this year, according to a study released on Monday by the market research company Dataquest.
Revenue for wafer fabrication equipment makers is expected to grow 43.5 percent, to $25.1 billion from $17.5 billion in 1999, when the growth rate was 19.4 percent, said Dataquest, a unit of Gartner Group Inc. (NYSE:IT - news).
Dataquest said that growth rate is conservative and could potentially range between 50 percent and 60 percent.
''Right now we do not see the number of projects being able to support a higher than 43 percent growth rate,'' said Clark Fuhs, director for Dataquest's semiconductor manufacturing programs.
If projects for new facilities were announced in the next few months, or if projects scheduled for 2001 were moved up to 2000, then the growth rate likely could be 50 percent to 60 percent, Fuhs said.
While the growth of revenues for equipment makers is expected to ease from 2000's pace, double-digit growth is expected to continue through 2002.
In 2001 a growth rate of 35.8 percent is forecast and a rate of 12.5 percent is seen for the following year.
The growth has been driven by better-than-expected personal computer and cellular phone shipments, as well as the continued investment in infrastructure associated with Internet applications, Dataquest said.
Wafer fab equipment, or front-end equipment, represents about 80 percent of the semiconductor equipment market, with back-end equipment, such as equipment used to package chips, omprising the remainder.
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