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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Worldwide semiconductor capital spending to dip 4.7% in 2016: Gartner



Worldwide semiconductor capital spending is projected to decline 4.7 per cent in 2016, to USD 59.4 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. This is down from the 3.3 per cent growth predicted in Gartner's previous quarter's forecast. "The 2016 outlook for the semiconductor manufacturing equipment market reflects a bleaker outlook for end-user electronics demand and the world economic environment," said David Christensen, senior research analyst at Gartner. "Capital investment policies of leading semiconductor vendors have remained cautious against the background of sluggish electronics demand. However, the long-term outlook shows a return to growth, although the wafer-level manufacturing equipment market is expected to enter a gentle down cycle in 2016 due to the loss of the supply and demand balance in the DRAM market," Christensen said. The IT research and advisory company said that spending on wafer-level manufacturing equipment is forecast to decline 2.4 percent this year. Within the forecast, different segments are expected to fare differently in response to varying end-market conditions. Beyond 2016, the market turns positive, with relatively strong growth forecast through 2018.