Tokyo Electron, the world’s second largest manufacturer of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, saw a 20% drop in Q2 orders.
The August SEMI book-to-bill for the
Higashi expects a 5% rise in demand for ICs as from April 2012.
Gartner is predicting a 19% drop in semiconductor equipment orders in 2012, with an end to equipment ordering cut-backs in mid 2012 by when IC supply and demand will balance, and the DRAM and foundry people will resume spending on the back of renewed PC-buying and a renewal of consumer confidence.
"While it appears the foundries will continue their capacity race at 28nm, spending on 45- 90nm technologies is slowing, and some equipment from those technology nodes is being used for 28nm production to help increase capacity utilisation, says Gartner’s Klaus Rinnen.
Equipment spending is expected to total $35bn this year compared to $43bn last year.
