South Korea will become the biggest semiconductor equipment market in the world
this year on the back of aggressive investments by its chipmakers, an executive
of an international trade association said Monday.
Dennis McGuirk, the
president of the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI),
said in a Seoul press conference that South Korea's market for chip equipment is
forecast to expand to US$8 billion in 2012, outpacing North America's $6.77
billion and Taiwan with $6.88 billion.
South Korea stood behind North
America and Taiwan last year, recording $7.99 billion, but it will surpass the
two regions this year and reach $8.36 billion in 2013, said McGuirk.
He said rising facility investments by South Korean firms, led by world's
largest memory chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co., will power the
growth.
The global market for chip equipment is expected to retreat 11
percent in 2012 but will turn around next year, he added.
The South
Korean market for semiconductor materials will grow to $7.23 billion won this
year, as the world market will expand 4 percent this year and grow 5 percent
next year, said McGuirk. He predicted that Taiwan's materials market will reach
$10.47 billion in 2012 and Japan will register $9.58 billion.
The SEMI
president forecast that the global semiconductor market will grow less than 5
percent this year due to the lingering economic challenges and risks.
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