Chipmaking equipment suppliers haven't had the greatest start to the calendar year, collectively reporting a sales slump in the opening three months of 2024, according to analyst figures.says revenue for the top five wafer fab equipment manufacturers dropped by 9 percent year-on-year in Q1, which it attributed to delayed customer investments in leading-edge semiconductors.
Everyone seems to agree that China is where the growth is. The wafer fab equipment makers' revenue from the Middle Kingdom grew 116 percent year-on-year in Q1, Counterpoint says, with strong demand from mid-critical and mature nodes and increased demand for DRAM. "Revenue from memory increased significantly in Q1 2024, indicating the start of a turnaround in this segment and a stronger recovery in H2 2024. Despite short-term market uncertainties, we expect the recovery to continue in Q2 and likely pick up in H2," said Counterpoint senior analyst Ashwath Rao.ASML and Imec unveil pricy High NA EUV playground for chipmakers
SEMI foresees South Korea surpassing the five million wpm mark for the first time in 2024; Japan is expected to see three percent year-on-year growth to 4.7 million wpm; the Americas five percent growth to 3.2 million wpm; Europe & Mideast is calculated to go up by four percent to 2.7 million wpm; and Southeast Asia will rise by four percent to 1.8 million wpm.
Looking ahead, chipmakers including Intel, Samsung, and TSMC are poised to start production of 2nm Gate-All-Around chips, boosting total leading-edge capacity by 17 percent in 2025, SEMI predicts.