MILPITAS, CA – Global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales will drop 10.5% to $57.6 billion in 2019 but stage a 2020 recovery and set a new high in 2021, according to SEMI.

Equipment sales will increase 5.5% to $60.8 billion in 2020 and continue to expand into 2021, with record revenues of $66.8 billion, as leading device manufactures invest in sub-10nm equipment, especially for foundry and logic.

Sales of wafer fab equipment – consisting of wafer processing, fab facility and mask/reticle equipment – will fall 9% in 2019 to $49.9 billion. The assembly and packaging equipment segment is on track to decline 26.1% to $2.9 billion this year, while semiconductor test equipment is forecast to drop 14% to $4.8 billion.

Taiwan will dethrone Korea as the largest equipment market and lead the world with 53.3% growth this year, followed by North America with a 33.6% uptick. China will maintain the second spot for the second consecutive year, and Korea will fall to third after throttling back capital expenditures. All regions tracked, except Taiwan and North America, will contract this year.

SEMI expects the 2020 equipment market recovery to be fueled by advanced logic and foundry, new projects in China, and, to a lesser extent, memory. In Europe, equipment sales will surge 45.9% to $3.3 billion. Taiwan is forecast to remain the top equipment market next year on the strength of $15.4 billion in sales, with China second at $14.9 billion and Korea third at $10.3 billion. More upside is likely if the macroeconomy improves and trade tensions subside in 2020.

In 2021, all sectors tracked are expected to grow, and the memory spending recovery will hit full stride. China is expected to ascend to the top position with equipment sales of more than $16 billion, followed by Korea, and Taiwan.

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