The global semiconductor manufacturing equipment spending would post a 5.5 per cent decline to total $35.8 billion in 2013, compared with $37.8 billion spent a year ago.
The capital spending will fall 3.5 per cent in 2013, as major producers remain cautious in the face of market weakness, according to a study by research and analyst firm Gartner.
"Weak semiconductor market conditions, which continued into the first quarter of 2013, generated downward pressure on new equipment purchases," said Bob Johnson, research vice president at Gartner.
"However, semiconductor equipment quarterly revenues are beginning to improve and positive movement in the book-to-bill ratio indicates that spending for equipment will pick up later in the year. Looking beyond 2013, we expect that the current economic malaise will have worked its way through the industry and spending will follow a generally increasing pattern in all sectors throughout the rest of the forecast period,” Johnson added.
Gartner predicts that 2014 semiconductor capital spending will rise 14.2 per cent, followed by 10.1 per cent growth in 2015. The next cyclical decline will be a mild drop of 3.5 per cent in 2016, followed by a return to growth in 2017.
Although capital spending for all products will decline in 2013, logic spending will be the strongest segment, declining only 2 per cent compared with a 3.5 per cent decline for the total market. This is driven by aggressive investment of the few top players, which are ramping up production at the sub-30-nanometer nodes.