Semiconductor equipment sales drop by 14% to $31.6bn

The worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment totalled $31.58 billion in 2013, representing a year-over-year decrease of 14%, according to SEMI.

The SEMI report includes data for seven major semiconductor-producing regions and 24 product categories. Categories cover wafer processing, assembly and packaging, test and other front-end equipment. Other front-end includes mask/reticle manufacturing, wafer manufacturing and fab facilities equipment.

Spending rates declined for all the regions tracked in the WWSEMS report, except for China and Taiwan. For the second year in a row, Taiwan remained the region with the highest amount of spending with $10.57 billion in equipment sales.

The North American market surpassed South Korea to claim the second place with $5.26 billion in sales; South Korea fell to the third position with a regional decrease of 41%. The global other front-end equipment segment decreased 34%; the assembly and packaging segment decreased 26%; total test equipment sales decreased 24%; and the wafer processing equipment market segment decreased 11%.

The data is available in the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (SEMS) Report, now available from SEMI. Compiled from data submitted by members of SEMI and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ), the Worldwide SEMS Report is a summary of the monthly billings and bookings figures for the global semiconductor equipment industry.