<<Has fab-tool sector hit the bottom?
Mark LaPedus
Page 1 of 4
EE Times
(09/10/2008 11:12 AM EDT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The business climate remains bleak in semiconductor equipment, as SEMI reported a significant drop in bookings and billings for the second quarter.
There were no bright spots in the period. Every region reported a huge drop in fab-tool billings in the second quarter, including China, which showed the greatest decline.
The question is whether or not the sector has hit the bottom? Possibly not. Capital spending in the memory segment remains down. Spending in the foundry and logic sectors are steady, but they are offsetting the steep drop in memory.
One analyst warned that the overall IC business will go from bad to worse. ''The fourth quarter will be a bust'' in the IC market, the analyst said, adding that there are no ''killer apps'' in the business to drive chip demand.
SEMI predicts a fab-tool recovery in 2009. Others doubt that forecast, saying business looks terrible for some time.
In any case, SEMI reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached $7.83 billion in the second quarter of 2008, down 26 percent less than the first quarter of 2008 and 29 percent less than the same quarter a year ago.
SEMI also reported worldwide semiconductor equipment bookings of US$6.99 billion in the second quarter of 2008. The figure is 30 percent less than the same quarter a year ago, and 13 percent less than the bookings figure for the first quarter of 2008.
The data is gathered in cooperation with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from more than 150 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.
''Spending for new semiconductor equipment is down considerably as anticipated,'' said Dan Tracy, an analyst at SEMI, in a statement. ''Overall 2008 spending will approach 2005 levels, with a recovery expected for next year.''
A decline of 20 percent in worldwide fab equipment spending is expected for 2008, but the sector is expected to rebound and grow over 20 percent in 2009, according to a recent report from SEMI.>>
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