MILPITAS, CA — Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment totaled $56.6 billion in 2017, a year-over-year increase of 37%, says SEMI.

Korea claimed the largest market for new semiconductor equipment for the first time, shattering all previous regional spending records with nearly $18 billion in equipment sales. Taiwan fell to second with sales of $11.5 billion.

Annual spending rates increased for South Korea, Europe, China, Japan and North America. However, new equipment markets in Taiwan and rest of world (primarily Southeast Asia) contracted.

Equipment sales to China increased 27%, as the region maintained the third-largest market position for the second year in a row. The 2017 equipment markets in Japan and North America held onto fourth and fifth places, respectively, while the Europe market rose in the rankings to the sixth spot.

The global other front-end segment increased 40%; the wafer processing equipment market segment rose 39%; the assembly and packaging segment jumped 29%; and total test equipment sales increased 27%.

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