Some general semi-equip news.
11/11: Trade Group Forecasts Robust Growth In Chip-Equipment Sales
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Rising demand and the increasing complexity of
electronic goods will keep semiconductor-equipment sales rising by about 17% a year through the end of the century, a trade group said Tuesday.
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, or SEMI, forecast
that total semiconductor-equipment sales will grow at a compound annual rate of 17% between 1997 and 2000.
SEMI expects world-wide semiconductor sales to total $28 billion in
1997, up 7.7% from $26 billion last year. The forecasts are based on a
study SEMI conducted last week of 90 companies from Europe, Japan and
the U.S.
"Higher demand for electronics in the home market and a growing
middle-class Asian market" are fueling the growth, said Elizabeth
Schumann, a senior market analyst at SEMI.
She said that although all chip makers are likely to benefit from better opportunities, automation-equipment makers and those with more advanced technologies are likely to benefit most. Shumann cited U.S.-based PRI Automation Inc. (PRIA), Germany's Jenoptik Infab and Netherlands-based ASM International NV (ASMIF) as potential beneficiaries.
Of the total chip-equipment sales, world-wide wafer-processing-equipment sales are forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 19% between 1997 and 2000; wafer-making-equipment sales at 17.8%; assembly and packaging-equipment sales at 15%; test-equipment sales at 14% and
fab-facility and automation-equipment sales at 18.7%.
Wafer-processing sales are likely to get a boost from electronic
companies that are constantly upgrading technology, Schumann said.
Wafer-manufacturing-equipment sales growth are forecast to drop to $299 million in 1997, down 19.8% from $373 million in 1996, but this is because 1996 was an "anomaly year," as silicon-equipment makers built excess capacity that year, she said.
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