Impacted by global economic recession, industry analysts are looking at about 20 percent decline for the device market this year. According to SEMI, the global semiconductor sales will be about $200 billion for 2009. However, the industry seems to bounce back in Q2 as the three-month average shipments did improve in March for semiconductor shipments, increased 4.5 percent from February. Meanwhile, the monthly sales in April of top foundries and packaging subcons were up 41 percent compared with March.
With more than 60 percent of the world’s spending on equipping frontend semiconductor fabs in Asia, there is an increasing shift of the centre of gravity of major equipment manufacturers to be closer to their Asian customers. According to the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), in 2008(p), the semiconductor industry produced an output of S$37.3b, accounting for 11 percent of the global semiconductor output.
"During the past few years, semiconductor industries have made the strategic investments in the main stream technology and the process needed to manufacture the same. The time has come now for the industries in Singapore and this region to see how they can produce more out of the installed base and even beyond the generic process into special/niche technologies. When the market turns around, such companies can be one step ahead of the rest of the competitors from the world positioning Southeast Asia as a strong semiconductor hub," said Jagadish CV, Chief Executive Officer of Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co. Pte Ltd.
Despite economic uncertainties, Southeast Asia is positioning itself for the next growth cycle. Leading this effort is Singapore with its plans for manufacturing plants to serve both the semiconductor and the photovoltaic (PV) industries.
"Building on Singapore’s strengths and experience in the semiconductor industry, we have identified clean energy as an area of growth. In the area of solar technology, Singapore is able to leverage on many of the commonalities in processing technology with semiconductor to provide high value-add and create meaningful jobs," said Manohar Khiatani, Deputy Managing Director, EDB.
"Singapore not only stands at the forefront of the world’s test, assembly, and packaging market, but also the first South East Asian hub for solar PV testing and certification," said Paul Davis, Executive Vice President of SEMI. "SEMICON and SOLARCON Singapore connects the suppliers, speakers, technologies, market opportunities that can help companies manage the current economic downturn and prepare for the upswing."
Southeast Asia continues to play a vital part in the assembly and testing of semiconductor devices. According to SEMI World Fab Forecast report, $500 million is expected to be spent on fabs equipping in 2009 mainly by Chartered, Micron and UMC. It is projected that these fabs may spend over $1 billoion in 2010. As the economy starts to turn around, the territory will once again thrive with backend activity for the semiconductor industry in the coming year.
SEMI
