Taiwan is to become the world’s largest spender on front-end chip manufacturing equipment this year, thanks to robust demand for chips used in vehicles and high-performance computing devices, international trade group SEMI said yesterday.
Fab equipment spending in Taiwan is forecast to rise 52 percent year-on-year to US$34 billion this year, ahead of South Korea’s US$25.5 billion, where it would be up 6 percent from the previous year, and US$17 billion in China, down 14 percent from its peak last year, SEMI said in its World Fab Forecast report.
Moreover, Europe and the Mideast combined would register record spending of US$9.3 billion this year, an annual surge of 176 percent, the report said.
Photo: Reuters
Overall, global fab equipment spending is expected to increase 20 percent this year to a record level of US$109 billion from US$91 billion last year, marking a third consecutive year of growth following a 42 percent surge last year, the report said.
Taiwan, South Korea and Southeast Asia are expected to register record investments this year, it added.
The global semiconductor equipment industry is on track to cross the US$100 billion threshold for the first time this year, SEMI said.
“This historic milestone puts an exclamation point on the current run of unprecedented industry growth,” SEMI president and chief executive officer Ajit Manocha said in a statement.
Total capacity in the global semiconductor industry is to expand by 8 percent this year after a 7 percent increase last year, and the growth is expected to continue next year with an annual growth of 6 percent, it said.
“The world semiconductor market was affected by changes in demand for end devices and inflation, causing a short-term inventory adjustment for chips used in certain electronic products, but, the industry is still on track to meet its long-term growth targets, benefiting from strong demand for automotive electronics and high-performance computing applications,” SEMI Taiwan president Terry Tsao (曹世綸) said in a statement.
The SEMI report showed that more than 85 percent of the spending on equipment this year would stem from capacity increases at 158 fabs and production lines.
The ratio is expected to be 83 percent next year after 129 fabs and production lines add capacity, it said.
The foundry sector is to account for the bulk of equipment spending this year and next year at about 53 percent, followed by the memory sector at 33 percent this year and 34 percent next year, the report said.
The forecast comes as major Taiwanese foundries are boosting capital spending this year to address a global chip shortage.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) has budgeted record expenditure on equipment of US$40 billion to US$44 billion this year, including back-end equipment for chip testing and packaging services, while United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) has doubled its capital expenditure this year to US$3.6 billion from US$1.8 billion last year as it adds capacity at its fabs.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI