MUNICH -- Global demand for surface mount placement equipment remained at a high level this fall, with North America and Europe making up for persistent shortfalls in China.

According to ASM Assembly Systems' calculations, the global SMT market grew over 20% in October.

New order bookings in China have experienced a steady decline over the past four months, albeit on a level that continues to be high overall, reports Stephanie Peppersack (right), an analyst with ASM. Business in other regions compensated for the restraint among Chinese electronics producers, she said. However, Europe was stable and North and South American experienced strong growth.

Based on ASM analyses, the global SMT equipment market is closing 2011 at a high level relative to 2010. What has changed, however, has been the regional distributions. For example, in China, the world’s largest SMT market, new bookings in October were less than one-third of the total order bookings registered in June of this year. Since China accounts for almost half of the global market, this drop slowed down the overall market’s momentum from this spring considerably.

The remaining regions were able to more than compensate for this weak spot, however. Heavy rains in Thailand and neighboring countries, which flooded or destroyed many plants, has led to new investments, and growth rates in the region have climbed over 170%. North and South America also reported growth of almost 40%, and Europe was stable and at a high level.

“The development in China as the world’s largest SMT market deserves special attention. When we include the other regions, however, we see that the overall level of new orders continues to be quite high. If there are no additional surprises caused by special events, we forecast 2011 to be similar to 2010 for the overall SMT market," Peppersack said.