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SEMI: 1Q23 North America chip equipment billings up 50% year-on-year

Judy Lin, DIGITIMES Asia, Taipei 0

Image Credit: Bloomberg

Global semiconductor equipment billings increased 9% year-over-year to US$26.8 billion in the first quarter of 2023, SEMI announced today in its Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) Report. Quarter-over-quarter billings slipped by 3%.

North America (mainly the US) leads all regions in growth by posting more than 50% both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter, as efforts in bringing the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain back to America are carried out step by step by semiconductor companies in persuit of CHIPS Act subsidies. TSMC, for example, has been busy installing equipment and fine-tuning them for production in Arizona.

Among all regions, Taiwan reported a 42% increase year-on-year, despite a 13% decline from Q4, 2022. By absolute number of semiconductor equipment billings, Taiwan remains the biggest buyer of chip equipment, while China's purchases are steadily declining since last year.

"Semiconductor equipment revenue in the first quarter was robust despite macroeconomic headwinds and a challenging industry environment," said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president, and CEO. "The fundamentals remain healthy for the long-term strategic investments needed to support major technology advancements for AI, automotive, and other growth applications."

Compiled from data submitted by members of SEMI and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ), the WWSEMS Report is a summary of the monthly billings figures for the global semiconductor equipment industry.

Following are quarterly billings data in billions of U.S. dollars with quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year changes by region:

Region

1Q2023

4Q2022

1Q2022

1Q (QoQ)

1Q (YoY)

Taiwan

6.93

7.98

4.88

-13%

42%

China

5.86

6.36

7.57

-8%

-23%

Korea

5.62

5.80

5.15

-3%

9%

North America

3.93

2.60

2.62

51%

50%

Japan

1.90

2.25

1.90

-16%

0%

Europe

1.52

1.46

1.28

4%

19%

Rest of World

1.06

1.32

1.29

-20%

-18%

Total

26.81

27.78

24.69

-3%

9%

Sources: SEMI (www.semi.org) and SEAJ (www.seaj.or.jp), June 2023
Note: Summed subtotals may not equal the total due to rounding.