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SEMI projects that worldwide sales of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment will increase 19.3 percent to $38.0 billion in 2014, according to the SEMI Year-end Forecast, released today at the annual SEMICON Japan exposition.  In 2015, strong positive growth is expected to continue, resulting in a global market increase of 15.2 percent before moderating in 2016.

The SEMI Year-end Forecast predicts that wafer processing equipment, the largest product segment by dollar value, is anticipated to increase 17.8 percent in 2014 to total $29.9 billion. The forecast predicts that the market for assembly and packaging equipment will increase by 30.6 percent to $3.0 billion in 2014. The market for semiconductor test equipment is forecast to increase by 26.5 percent, reaching $3.4 billion this year. The “Other Front End” category (fab facilities, mask/reticle, and wafer manufacturing equipment) is expected to increase 14.8 percent in 2014.

For 2014, Taiwan, North America, and South Korea remain the largest spending regions.  In terms of percentage growth, SEMI forecasts that in 2015, Europe will reach equipment sales of $3.9 billion (47.9 percent increase over 2014), Taiwan will reach $12.3 billion (28.1 percent increase), and South Korea sales will hit $8.0 billion (25.0 percent increase).

The following results are given in terms of market size in billions of U.S. dollars:

The Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) from SEMI provides comprehensive market data for the global semiconductor equipment market.

SEMI is the global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronics manufacturing supply chains.

Over 500 exhibiting companies from 20 countries and more than 40,000 attendees are expected to attend SEMICON Korea 2015, to be held February 4-6 at COEX in Seoul. Keynotes include ES Jung, EVP and GM, Samsung Electronics, on “Breaking the Limits of Semiconductor Technology through Open Collaboration,” Wen-Hann Wang, corporate VP at Intel, on “Inventing a Better Future: Intelligence Everywhere,” and Maciej Kranz, VP at Cisco, on “Internet of Everything: Turning Vision into Reality.” SEMICON Korea will bring together global leaders in semiconductor manufacturing to share critical new technological development and business opportunities. The event is co-located with LED Korea 2015, the largest exhibition in the world for LED manufacturing. Complimentary registration opens today.

Some of the largest projects driving the Korean equipment market this year include, but are not limited to, Samsung’s Line 16 and S1 line, and Hynix’s M10 and M11. In 2014, front-end fab equipment spending in Korea is expected to reach about $6 billion with another $7-8 billion forecast for 2015. In 2015, for fab equipment, Korea is forecast to outspend all regions except one.

Highlights include:

  • Semiconductor Technology Symposium (STS): With the theme “Breaking through the Limitations of Semiconductor Technology,” STS addresses the global trends and new technologies of the semiconductor manufacturing process, including: Lithography; Process Technology; Device Technology; Etching Technology; CMP Technology; Packaging; and Advanced Metrology and Inspection.
  • Supplier Search Program: Where global leading device makers like Intel, SONY and TI find new local business partners.
  • OEM Supplier Search Meeting: Local parts and components companies to pursue new business opportunities with top level OEMs.
  • Presidents Reception: Attracts more than 340 participants including industry leaders, decision makers and VIPs.
  • Standards: STEP: Equipment Data Acquisition, EDA; and technical chapter meetings (IC; FPD Metrology)

Premier sponsors of SEMICON Korea 2015 include: Lam Research, Applied Materials, Wonik, Advantest, TEL, Hanmi Semiconductor, Exicon, ASE, Hitachi High Technologies and PSK.

SEMICON Korea 2015 is the leading semiconductor technology event to explore the latest market trends and future developments for technology, featuring extensive technical forums, business programs and standards programs. A complete schedule of programs is available here: www.semiconkorea.org/en/Programs/ProgramCalendar

In conjunction with SEMICON Korea, LED Korea 2015 will hold a three-day technical conference to present the latest technical perspectives on LED manufacturing and applications.

Online pre-registration for visitors and programs is now in process for free entrance to SEMICON Korea 2015 and LED Korea 2015. For registration, please visit www.semiconkorea.org  and www.led-korea.org.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.10 billion in orders worldwide in October 2014 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.93, according to the October EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.   A book-to-bill of 0.93 means that $93 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in October 2014 was $1.10 billion. The bookings figure is 7.0 percent lower than the final September 2014 level of $1.19 billion, and is 1.9 percent lower than the October 2013 order level of $1.12 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in October 2014 was $1.18 billion. The billings figure is 5.8 percent lower than the final September 2014 level of $1.26 billion, and is 10.6 percent higher than the October 2013 billings level of $1.07 billion.

“While the global semiconductor equipment industry will see strong double-digit growth this year and is slated for further growth in 2015, order activity posted by North American suppliers has moderated, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio below parity for two consecutive months,” said SEMI president and CEO Denny McGuirk.

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

 

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Bookings
(3-mo. avg)

Book-to-Bill
May 2014

$1,407.8

$1,407.0

1.00
June 2014

$1,327.5

$1,455.0

1.10
July 2014

$1,319.1

$1,417.1

1.07
August 2014

$1,293.4

$1,346.1

1.04
September 2014 (final)

$1,256.5

$1,186.2

0.94
October 2014 (prelim)

$1,184.0

$1,102.9

0.93

Source: SEMI, November 2014 

Continuing strength in China and a resurgent U.S. economy are combining to drive accelerated growth in the worldwide market for semiconductors used in industrial applications this year, according to IHS Technology.

Global market revenue for industrial semiconductors is expected to rise by 12.9 percent in 2014, reaching $38.5 billion, up from $34.0 billion in 2013. This represents an even larger increase in market growth compared to an 11.4 percent expansion in 2013.

The United States and China, the world’s two largest markets for industrial semiconductors, are propelling global growth this year, with revenue increases of 13 percent and 17 percent, respectively, as presented in the figure below. The two regions were responsible for strong market increases in the second quarter, compensating for a decline in Europe.

The surge in in the second quarter was thanks in particular to three sectors: factory automation; building and home control; and commercial aircraft. Expansion in the economies of the US and China overcame a contraction in the European market region during the April through June period. Following a seasonally slow first quarter, the strong second quarter expansion of nearly 7 percent kept the global market for industrial semiconductors on a strong ascendant path for the year.

“Rising demand for industrial semiconductors in the United States is being driven by a wide range of positive economic factors that are boosting the manufacturing sector,” said Robbie Galoso, principal analyst for IHS.

“At the same time, the Chinese government’s generous stimulus programs in several product markets are promoting broad-based strength for various industrial electronics areas. The robust performance in both countries kept spending on industrial semiconductors on track in the second quarter and set the stage for accelerated growth for the entire year of 2014.”

For more information, see the report entitled “Robust Q2 supports 2014 double-digit growth forecast” from the IHS Semiconductors & Components service.

Industrial juggernauts

The growth in the U.S. is driven by a plethora of factors, including a more stable housing market, improved consumer finances, and credit and increased capital spending. This will cause annual growth in the U.S. industrial semiconductor market to rise by about 2 percentage points in 2014 compared to 2013.

With 30.5 percent of total revenue in 2013, the United States is the No. 1 purchaser of industrial semiconductors in the world and has market share dominance across several industrial markets.

Meanwhile for China, that country’s economic growth is cooling somewhat, with the impact of government stimulus programs reverberating through the country’s various market segments. This is resulting in strong spending on microchips in industrial areas including manufacturing and process automation, test and measurement, building and home control, and security and video surveillance.

China is the second largest purchaser of industrial semiconductors in the world with 14.1 percent of total revenues in 2013.

LEDs light up the industrial chip sector

Among the fastest growing product sectors within the industrial semiconductor market will be optical light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which will attain 12.4 percent growth. The use of LEDs for general-lighting applications is propelling expansion of this area. Demand for general-lighting LEDs is so strong that as lighting outperformed other applications like televisions, some LEDs originally intended for TVs are being sold to the general-lighting market.

Other fast-growing segments include transistors and thyristors, which will grow 14.2 percent this year.

Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased during the third quarter 2014 when compared to second quarter area shipments according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

Total silicon wafer area shipments were 2,597 million square inches during the most recent quarter, a 0.4 percent increase from the 2,587 million square inches shipped during the previous quarter. New quarterly total area shipments are 11.0 percent higher than third quarter 2013 shipments, according to SEMI.

“After reaching record levels in the second quarter, silicon wafer shipment volume growth plateaued during the most recent quarter,” said Hiroshi Sumiya, chairman of SEMI SMG and general manager of the Corporate Planning Department of Shin-Etsu Handotai Co., Ltd. “Year-to-date silicon volumes are 10 percent higher than the same period last year.”

Quarterly Silicon Area Shipment Trends

 

Million Square Inches
 

Q3 2013

Q2 2014

Q3 2014

Q1-Q3 2013

Q1-Q3 2014
Total

2,341

2,587

2,597

6,859

7,548

Semiconductor Silicon Shipments* – Millions of Square Inches

Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for semiconductors, which in turn, are vital components of virtually all electronics goods, including computers, telecommunications products, and consumer electronics. The highly engineered thin round disks are produced in various diameters (from one inch to 12 inches) and serve as the substrate material on which most semiconductor devices or “chips” are fabricated.

All data cited in this release is inclusive of polished silicon wafers, including virgin test wafers, epitaxial silicon wafers, and non-polished silicon wafers shipped by the wafer manufacturers to the end-users.

The Silicon Manufacturers Group acts as an independent special interest group within the SEMI structure and is open to SEMI members involved in manufacturing polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon or silicon wafers (e.g., as cut, polished, epi, etc.). The purpose of the group is to facilitate collective efforts on issues related to the silicon industry including the development of market information and statistics about the silicon industry and the semiconductor market.

For more information on the SEMI Worldwide Silicon Wafer Shipment Statistics, visit www.semi.org/en/MarketInfo/SiliconShipmentStatistics.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today applauded a long-sought deal between the U.S. and China to expand the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), a key trade pact that promotes fair and open trade by providing for duty-free treatment of certain information and communications technology (ICT) products, including semiconductors.

Following negotiations on the sideline of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ meeting in Beijing, President Obama announced a bilateral agreement on the product scope of an expanded ITA that includes next generation semiconductors, static converters and inductors, and an array of technology products including medical devices, GPS devices, software media, ICT testing instruments, and others. This breakthrough bilateral agreement will enable all negotiators to return to Geneva to finalize a pluri-lateral ITA deal, with full talks targeted for December.

“The ITA has played a central role in helping the U.S. semiconductor industry drive innovation, create jobs, lower consumer prices and connect communities throughout the world,” said Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Today’s agreement between the U.S. and China to expand the ITA is a hard-fought victory for the U.S. semiconductor industry and a big win for the U.S. economy and consumers around the world. We look forward to all ITA countries finalizing a deal as soon as possible.”

An expanded ITA – with an estimated value of over $1.4 trillion of annual world trade – represents one of the most valuable agreements for the global high tech industry in nearly two decades. It provides the first opportunity to include newly developed products resulting from the dynamic technological developments in the information technology sector since 1996, when the ITA was originally concluded.

U.S. negotiators sought expanded coverage for new and innovative semiconductor products, including multi-component semiconductors (MCOs). MCOs comprise a growing share of the global semiconductor market, and will be key to continued growth and innovation in a vast range of downstream products, services, and sectors, providing the basis for much needed economic growth and jobs. Inclusion of MCOs in an expanded ITA would save the industry $150 to $300 million in global annual tariffs. U.S. semiconductor companies stand to benefit significantly from expanding the ITA, given that semiconductors are one of America’s top exports.

As the trend toward “smart” products continues, demand for advanced semiconductor products like MCOs has been growing consistently in the past few years and will continue to do so in the future. According to industry experts and SIA estimates, global sales of MCOs are estimated to grow by 10 percent annually over the next 5 years.

“Expanding the ITA to keep pace with the latest technologies will fuel foreign and domestic semiconductor design and manufacturing investments, reduce costs for consumers, promote exports, and strengthen overall semiconductor sector development and growth,” said Toohey. “SIA would like to extend sincere thanks to President Obama and the U.S. negotiating team for achieving this strong and successful outcome for American businesses and consumers.”

The influx of wireless technologies and intelligent devices has resulted in the rapid evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT), a disruptive cross industry force expected to transform the manufacturing value chain into a state of hyper-connectivity. While it is only a matter of time before end users see the compelling benefits of real-time data collection and in-depth analysis of multiple process variables from diverse distributed assets, several roadblocks remain to enforce high-level business continuity.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Internet of Things (IoT)—Challenges and Impediments, finds that improving the speed and reliability of communication, enforcing a single standard across the enterprise, maintaining a robust security platform and managing high volume datasets are paramount to the success of the highly dynamic IoT landscape.

“Security, particularly for critical infrastructure, is a key concern for end users owing to the number of attack points and potential magnitude of impact,” said Frost & Sullivan Industrial Automation and Process Control Senior Research Analyst Rahul Vijayaraghavan. “As the IoT market moves towards semi- and fully-autonomous control networks, end users will have limited awareness and control in the event of targeted attacks, heightening the risk of sudden disruptions.”

While IoT provides benefits like responsiveness, collaboration, and visibility, there remain concerns surrounding management of high volume data traffic from multiple connected assets.  End users must decide what mission-critical data (safety, financial, and operational) to manage in-house and what data should be progressively farmed out to service-platform providers.

Additionally, to derive value from the data amassed, development of extensible, industry-specific platforms that offer actionable, real-time insights to improve operational productivity should be a focal point for solution providers.

“As data becomes the currency of the future, vendors must further invest in meeting critical end user data storage, management, analytics and ownership requirements,” noted Rahul. “The ability to establish robust strategic partnerships with IoT ecosystem value chain participants will determine if solution providers can sustain growth in the fast-evolving IoT domain.”

Internet of Things (IoT)—Challenges and Impediments is a Market Insight that is part of the Industrial Automation & Process Control Growth Partnership Service program. This Insight provides value chain participants in the IoT ecosystem an overview of the key business drivers fueling IoT adoption, applications of IoT across the manufacturing value chain, and a detailed analysis of critical concerns and road blocks.

For complimentary access to more information on this research, please visit: http://bit.ly/1zyTljI.

Nine of the Top 20 Semiconductor Suppliers are Forecast to Register Double-Digit Growth in 2014

Later this month, IC Insights’ November Update to The 2014 McClean Report will show a forecast ranking of the 2014 top 25 semiconductor suppliers with the companies’ sales broken down on a quarterly basis.  A preview of the forecast for the top 20 companies’ total 2014 sales results is presented in Figure 1.  The top 20 worldwide semiconductor (IC and O S D—optoelectronic, sensor, and discrete) sales ranking for 2014 includes eight suppliers headquartered in the U.S., three in Japan, three in Europe, three in Taiwan, two in South Korea, and one in Singapore, a relatively broad representation of geographic regions.

This year’s top-20 ranking includes two pure-play foundries (TSMC and UMC) and six fabless companies.  Pure-play IC foundry GlobalFoundries is forecast to be replaced in this year’s top 20 ranking by fabless IC supplier Nvidia.  It is interesting to note that the top four semiconductor suppliers all have different business models.  Intel is essentially a pure-play IDM, Samsung a vertically integrated IC supplier, TSMC a pure-play foundry, and Qualcomm a fabless company.

IC foundries are included in the top 20 ranking because IC Insights has always viewed the ranking as a top supplier list, not as a marketshare ranking, and realizes that in some cases semiconductor sales are double counted.  With many of IC Insights’ clients being vendors to the semiconductor industry (supplying equipment, chemicals, gases, etc.), excluding large IC manufacturers like the foundries would leave significant “holes” in the list of top semiconductor suppliers.  Foundries and fabless companies are clearly identified in Figure 1.  In the April Update to The McClean Report, marketshare rankings of IC suppliers by product type were presented and foundries were excluded from these listings.

As shown, it is expected to require total semiconductor sales of over $4.2 billion to make the 2014 top 20 ranking. In total, the top 20 semiconductor companies’ sales are forecast to increase by 9 percent this year as compared to 2013. However, when excluding the two pure-play foundries (TSMC and UMC) from the ranking, the top “18” semiconductor companies’ sales are forecast to increase by 8 percent this year, the same rate as IC Insights’ current forecast for total 2014 worldwide semiconductor market growth.

 

Fig. 1

Outside of the top six spots, there are numerous changes expected within the 2014 top-20 semiconductor supplier ranking.  In fact, of the 14 companies ranked 7th through 20th, 10 of them are forecast to change positions in 2014 as compared with 2013 (with NXP expected to jump up two spots).

More details on the forecasted 2014 top 25 semiconductor suppliers will be provided in the November Update to The McClean Report.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $87 billion during the third quarter of 2014, an increase of 5.7 percent over the previous quarter and a jump of 8 percent compared to the third quarter of 2013. Third quarter sales outperformed the latest World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) industry forecast. Global sales for the month of September 2014 reached $29 billion, 8 percent higher than the September 2013 total of $26.9 billion and 1.9 percent more than last month’s total of $28.5 billion. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by WSTS and represent a three-month moving average.

“Through the third quarter of 2014, global semiconductor sales remain strong and well ahead of last year’s pace,” said Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “The industry has now posted seven consecutive months of sequential monthly growth, and year-to-year growth has been strong across nearly all semiconductor product categories, with DRAM and Analog leading the way.”

Regionally, sales were up compared to last month in the Americas (2.8 percent) and Asia Pacific (2.5 percent), but down slightly in Europe (-0.1 percent) and Japan (-1.3 percent). Compared to September 2013, sales increased in Asia Pacific (12 percent), Europe (7.9 percent) and the Americas (3.7 percent), but decreased in Japan (-3.7 percent). All four regional markets have posted better year-to-date sales through September than they did through the same point last year.

September 2014      
Billions      
Month-to-Month Sales      
Market Last Month Current Month % Change
Americas 5.60 5.76 2.8%
Europe 3.22 3.22 -0.1%
Japan 3.07 3.03 -1.3%
Asia Pacific 16.57 16.99 2.5%
Total 28.46 29.00 1.9%
       
Year-to-Year Sales      
Market Last Year Current Month % Change
Americas 5.55 5.76 3.7%
Europe 2.98 3.22 7.9%
Japan 3.15 3.03 -3.7%
Asia Pacific 15.17 16.99 12.0%
Total 26.85 29.00 8.0%
       
Three-Month-Moving Average Sales      
Market Apr/May/Jun Jul/Aug/Sep % Change
Americas 5.24 5.76 9.8%
Europe 3.19 3.22 0.9%
Japan 2.97 3.03 2.2%
Asia Pacific 16.04 16.99 5.9%
Total 27.44 29.00 5.7%

 

Intematix Corporation, a manufacturer of phosphor solutions for LED lighting, today announced Jerry Turin as the company’s Chief Financial Officer.  Most recently, Mr. Turin served as Chief Financial Officer of Oclaro, Inc., which scaled to a peak of $600M revenue run-rate from $250M during his tenure.  Mr. Turin will direct the company’s financial strategy and finance team.

“Jerry Turin’s experience and financial expertise will promote the strategic growth objectives of Intematix,” said Mark Swoboda, CEO of Intematix. “His understanding of the financial ecosystem, and his rapport with the investment community, will contribute to the financial foundation supporting the execution of our plans.”

“I am excited to step into this role at Intematix,” stated Mr. Turin. “The core competencies of Intematix are impressive, and the market opportunities are significant. I look forward to working with the talented team at Intematix.”

Prior to his appointment as Chief Financial Officer at Intematix, Mr. Jerry Turin was the Chief Financial Officer of Oclaro, Inc. from 2008 through 2013. Mr. Turin served as the Vice President of Finance, Corporate Controller and Treasury from July 2005 to 2008. Before his tenure at Oclaro, Mr. Turin worked at executive level financial positions in Silicon Valley and has more than 20 years of combined accounting and corporate finance experience in the technology industry. He also served at Deloitte & Touche as Senior Manager of Audit Services. Mr. Turin holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Commerce from the University of Alberta. He is also a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta.