Intel and Samsung are forecasted to lead in semicon equipment spending in 2013

IC Insights has provided the top-10 spenders of semiconductor equipment in 2013 as listed in Figure 1 below. As shown, there are five companies that are expected to spend at least $3.0 billion in 2013, the same as in 2012 and 2011. Figure 1 also shows that although the top-10 capital spenders cut their outlays by 5% in 2012, the non-top-10 spenders cut their capital spending by 27% last year, illustrating how “top-heavy” the semiconductor capital spending environment has become. Below are the other analytical points shared by IC Insights: For 2013, the top-10 capital spenders are forecast to increase their spending by 5% as compared to 2012, which would be 13 points better than the results expected from the non-top-10 companies (-8%). IC Insights believes that, in the long run, the “other” companies are likely to continue to increase their spending at a slower rate, or decrease their spending at a higher rate, as compared to the top 10 companies as they implement the fabless or “fab-lite” business models for their IC production. In IC Insights’ opinion, IC manufacturers that are currently spending less than $1.0 billion a year on capital outlays will find it just about impossible to manufacture using leading-edge digital processing technology. Companies that are in significant trouble in this regard include Taiwanese IC suppliers Nanya, Powerchip, and ProMOS. These ...