Despite COVID-19 and an initial
slow quarter, the semiconductor equipment market share is expected to grow with
a CAGR of 8% in the forecast period of 2020-2025. There is much interest in the
semiconductor fab equipment market report. Semiconductor wafer fabrication is
the process that produces photonic and electronic circuits. These include LEDs,
radio frequency amplifiers and optical computer components.
Wafer fabrication enables
building components with the desired electrical structures. Semiconductor
equipment plays a crucial role in Integrated Circuit or IC manufacturing. Semiconductor
wafer fabrication facilitates the creation of these circuits that are used so
commonly in electronics and electrical devices.
For semiconductor device
fabrication, a number of processes are used to transform the bare silicon wafer
to circuit. Such as PVD/CVD, RTP, plasma etch, photolithography and CMP. Semiconductor
fab equipment market is expected to grow by Q2 and Q3 of 2020.
Semiconductor Equipment Forecast Wider Outlook
VLSI reports that order activity for semiconductor equipment has continued to grow, rising to four points at 64 degrees. Even though the sales fell more than 8% sequentially in the first quarter, the equipment industry is predicted to bounce back in Q2.
Equipment sales will rise sequentially by single digits in the second quarter. There are two factors that will lead to this increase. Additional revenue will be realised from shipments in Q1. Secondly, there is a strong demand from China. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment market share is categorized based on front-end, back-end equipment, semiconductor fab equipment, product type etc.
This forecast comes as a huge relief as compared to the initial negative forecast for Q2. However, prospects in 2H20 are still challenging because of the continuing global recession. There is also a likelihood of export restrictions on semiconductor equipment to China. Considering that Q1 sales for Integrated Circuits are better than expected, all is not gloomy yet.
Long-Term Drivers And Outlook Remain The Same
According to semiconductor
industry experts, the key long-term drivers and trends will remain. Some major
predictions include electronic sales exceeding $2T, ICs running at $330B and
equipment sales greater than $70B. This is because new applications demand more
complex processes, in turn leading to equipment demand.
However, equipment sales depend
on robust semiconductor sales, units and transition to new technologies. There
doesn’t appear to be a substantial reduction in the semiconductor equipment
sales despite Coronavirus.
The top 4 industry drivers continue to remain strong:
- 5G and Infrastructure
- Datacenter
- PC upgrade cycle
- AI innovations
Overall, demand in the
semiconductor industry is fuelled by smartphones and applications in consumer
electronics and automotive applications. These industries are led by
technology-based innovations such as wireless (5G) and Artificial
Intelligence. Data released by the
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) states that the
semiconductor equipment industry outlook is promising and will recover in 2020
and scale new heights in 2021.
