Global semiconductor equipment market grew 143% in 2010 to approximately $41bn as the market recovered from the industry slowdown of the previous two years, according to Gartner.
All major market segments grew significantly in 2010, with automatic test equipment (ATE) sales up by 149%, wafer fab equipment (WFE) sales up by 145%, and sales of packaging assembly equipment (PAE) up by 127%.
Gartner managing vice-president Klaus Rinnen said the semiconductor equipment market soared in 2010 driven by the pent-up demand from the 2008 and 2009 downturn, and a stronger economy than projected.
"Memory and foundry spending were the key drivers, although all areas showed significant growth," Rinnen said.
The share of the top 10 semiconductor capital equipment companies rose nearly 2 points in 2010, accounting for 63.4% of total revenue, up from 61.6% in 2009.
Applied Materials retained top position in the market, but it could not increase its share because it did not directly capitalise on the strong lithography spending in 2010.
ASML was the fastest-growing company among the top 10 semiconductor capital equipment vendors in 2010. The company moved from No. 3 to No. 2 based on the strength of immersion lithography for double patterning, growing to 13% market share.
Tokyo Electron dropped to the No. 3 position, despite gaining some additional market share while its Electron’s dominance in track and the associated growth was unable to offset relatively slower spending by some of its key customers.
Gartner said that the recent earthquake in Japan is going to have a near-term impact on the industry, depressing quarterly revenue in the second quarter of 2011.
However, Gartner analysts said semiconductor equipment manufacturers should be able to recover in the second half of the year.
