In a sign of good news for the global semiconductor industry, two industry groups reported a 13% increase in semi manufacturing equipment billings in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2019.
The findings are based on monthly data from 80 global equipment equipment companies and reported by industry group SEMI, based in the U.S., and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan.
The global 13% improvement for the first quarter of 2020 was matched by a 15% uptick in North America and a 48% improvement in China. Korea was up by 16% and Japan by 8% while Taiwan was up 6%. However, Europe declined by 23%.
Total billings worldwide for the first quarter were $$15.57 billion, an improvement of 13% over first quarter 2019 billings of $13.79 billion. Billings in the final quarter of 2019 were $17.8 billion.
In North America, total billings for the first quarter were $1.93 billion, compared to the year-earlier quarter of $1.67 billion and fourth quarter 2019 billings of $2.28 billion.
Only three regions reported an improvement quarter-to-quarter from the final quarter of 2019 to first quarter 2020. These three were Korea with a 46% improvement sequentially, Japan with a very slight improvement of $10 million and Europe with a 36% improvement sequentially. Europe’s first quarter total was $640 million, up from $470 million in fourth quarter 2019 but down from $840 million in first quarter 2019.
SEMI separately announced that its market research shows China semi foundry fab and memory spending will rebound in the second half of 2020, up by 30% from the first half of the year.
SEMI, with 2,100 global member companies in the semiconductor industry, also announced Tuesday that registration is now open for the first major industry event of 2020 in Shanghai, China, with on-site exhibitions and conferences plus live webinars for those unable to attend in person. The Semicon China 2020 http://www.semiconchina.org/event will be held June 27-29.
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