Capital spending by chip industry to drop
[THE INVESTOR] Global chipmakers’ facility investment is expected to shrink in 2018 after posting double-digit growth this year, an industry tracker said on Aug. 8.
In its latest market report, Gartner predicted the global semiconductor industry’s capital spending to surge 10.2 percent on-year to US$77.79 billion this year.
Despite an estimated 1.4 percent gain for the second quarter, Gartner revised up the full-year forecast sharply amid a continued rise in demand and prices, which focused on NAND flash memory chips.
By sector, investments in wafer fabrication are projected to soar 17.9 percent on-year to US$43.66 billion this year, with spending on remaining areas likely to gain 1.8 percent.
Gartner, however, forecast the industry’s investment in new plants and equipment to swing to a contraction in 2018 and the next year.
The chip industry‘s capital expenditures are likely to drop 0.5 percent on-year to US$77.44 billion in the coming year, with the amount sinking 7.3 percent on-year to US$71.81 billion the next year.
By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)