KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): Global semiconductor capital expenditure (capex) is expected to grow between 16%-18% this year, and continuing on the double digit trajectory into 2015.

According to the US-based Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), it predicted in August 2014 that fab equipment spending would rise by 21% for this year.

However, push out in spending by some companies resulted in a slight downward revision.

It expects growth for 2014 to be a bit more modest, but still very healthy in the 16%-18% range.

In a report this week, SEMI said fab equipment spending for next year, 2015, looks robust, and compared to 2014, even more companies will join the billion dollar club, spending US$1 billion or more for the year.  

It said Inotera would more than double its capex, from US$730 million in 2014 to US$1.66 billion in 2015.

“TSMC has indicated that its 2015 capex will exceed US$10 billion; and Intel will spend less in 2015 than in 2014, but still plans about US$10 billion.

“As detailed in SEMI’s World Fab Forecast report there are ten fab projects with major investments for equipment spending ranging between US$1 billion and US$2 billion in 2015 compared to seven fab projects in 2014,” it said.

The organisation said that throughout 2014, SEMI had tracked 177 facilities worldwide investing about US$34 billion in semiconductor equipment.

“In 2015, 190 facilities are being tracked with fab equipment spending worth over US$40 billion.

“The double-digit growth in fab equipment spending for this year and next follows spending declines in the two years leading into 2014,” it said.

“Looking back, the beginning of 2014 appeared euphoric, with high capital expenditure expected by major players: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) had announced plans to spend in the US$10 billion range, Samsung Electronics was at 14.5 Trillion Won, and Intel planned around US$11 billion (+/-$500 million),” it said.  

However, SEMI said equipment spending for some of the key fab projects slowed down around the middle of the year, and some spending has pushed more into 2015.

“For example, capital expenditures by Samsung Electronics though the end-September 2014 was only at 58% of their announced capex.

“We also see TSMC equipment spending for Front End facilities to be somewhat lower than originally expected. One reason for these push outs is that the adoption of 14/16nm nodes and 3D NAND began slow in 2014 but is expected to accelerate in 2015,” it said.