SAN JOSE, CA – Spending on fab construction projects and equipping will likely see double digit declines in 2008, as many fab construction projects are put on hold until the end of the year or into 2009, says SEMI.

Spending on equipping fabs in 2008 is expected to decline 15% compared to the 9% growth last year.

SEMI indicates a decline in equipment spending by almost 10% for foundries, about 15% for memory, and about 30% for the logic/MPU segment.

Spending on fab construction projects is expected to decline in 2008 by 9%, compared to the strong growth in 2007. Twelve new volume fabs are expected to start construction, which represents a total capacity addition, when fully operational, of 1.53 million wafers per month (wpm) in 200 mm equivalents. The five biggest spenders on fab construction projects in 2008 are expected to be Flash Alliance (Toshiba/Sandisk JV), Samsung, Hynix, Rexchip (Elpida/Powerchip JV) and Powerchip.

Semiconductor manufacturing capacity is projected to grow by about 11% in 2008. Memory still retains the largest share of total fab capacity, and is expected to increase this year to 41% from 38% in 2007.

Memory fabs are projected to increase capacity by 18% year-over-year, followed by logic/MPU, which are expected to see 5% growth. Foundries are forecasted to add about 8% more capacity.