SAN JOSE – Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment totaled $43.5 billion in 2011, up 9% year-over-year.

Spending varied for all the regions tracked, with increases reported for Europe, North America and Japan. North America surpassed Taiwan as the region with the highest spending, with $9.26 billion in equipment sales. The Korea market claimed second place for the second year in a row with $8.66 billion in sales; Taiwan fell to third with a regional decrease of 24%.

The report was compiled from data submitted by members of SEMI and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

The global wafer processing equipment market segment increased 15%, assembly and packaging decreased 14%, and total test equipment sales decreased 9%. Other front-end equipment sales grew 5%.

2010-2011 Semiconductor Capital Equipment Market by World Region

(in US billions)

Source: SEMI/SEAJ March 2012