KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 10): In a review of the semiconductor equipment and materials sector, U.S.-based Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) president and CEO Ajit Manocha said 2017 was a terrific year for SEMI members and forecast a stong 2018 as well.

In a SEMI Global update on its website on Jan 3, Manocha said chip revenues rose 22% year-on-year (y-o-y) and closed at nearly US$440 billion in 2017,

“The equipment industry surpassed revenue levels last reached in the year 2000.

“Semiconductor equipment posted sales of nearly US$56 billion and semiconductor materials US$48 billion in 2017.

“For semiconductor equipment, this was a giant 36% y-o-y growth. Samsung, alone, invested US$26 billion in semiconductor CapEx in 2017 – an incredible single year spend in an incredible year,” he said.

Manocha said MEMS and Sensors gained new growth in telecom and medical markets, adding to existing demand from automotive, industrial and consumer segments.

He said MEMS is forecast to be a US$19 billion industry in 2018.

Meanwhile, flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) is also experiencing significant product design and functionality growth with increasing gains in widespread adoption.

“No longer is a single monolithic demand driver propelling the electronics manufacturing supply chain.

“The rapidly expanding digital economy continues to foster innovation with new demand from the IoT, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), automobile infotainment and driver assistance, artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data, among others,” he said.

Manocha said with the explosion in data usage, memory demand is nearly insatiable, holding memory device ASPs high and prompting continued heavy investment in new capacity.

“2018 is forecast to be another terrific year. Integrated circuit (IC) revenues are expected to increase another 8% and semiconductor equipment will grow 11%.

“With diverse digital economy demand continuing, additional manufacturing capacity is being added in China as fab projects come on line to develop and increase the indigenous semiconductor supply chain,” he said.

Manocha said to ensure the industry growth does not slow, it will need to work together in 2018 in these three key areas, namely talent development, data management and Environment, Health, and Safety (EH&S).