With two of the worlds largest semiconductor foundries going through a significant capital expenditure phase, Taiwan is leading the pack for equipment purchases in 2010. According to new figures released from SEMI, equipment billings for Taiwan topped US$3.0 billion in the third quarter, up 17% quarter-on-quarter. Korea was second as DRAM spending dominated that market after collapsing in 2009. Korea therefore has shown the highest increase Year-on-Year, with 227% growth but billings were US$2.54 billion.
According to SEMI, worldwide semiconductor equipment bookings were US$12.39 billion in the third quarter of 2010. The figure is 113% more than the same quarter a year ago and 6% greater than the bookings figure for the second quarter of 2010.
Global billings reached US$11.12 billion in the third quarter, 22% higher than the second quarter of 2010 and 148% higher than the same quarter a year ago.
However, the recent monthly book-to-bill figures clearly indicate that growth has slowed and reached a peak in the current spending cycle of 2010.