Global information technology research and advisory company Gartner on Monday said the worldwide wafer fab equipment (WFE) spending will witness a decline of 13.3% and will touch $31.4 billion in 2012.
The spending on wafer fab equipment in 2011 was around $36.2 billion. The analyst firm also expressed confidence in the market and said it will improve in 2013.
Further, it said in 2014 wafer fab equipment market is projected to increase 15.3% and will surpass $35.9 billion.
“The outlook for semiconductor equipment markets has deteriorated as the macro economy has weakened,” said Bob Johnson, research vice-president, Gartner.
Gartner also estimates that the wafer fab manufacturing capacity utilisation will decline in 2012 and will be around 80% in 2012. However, the company said the utilization would increase to about 87% by the end of 2013. It also said that memory business will continue to be weak through 2012.