The leading manufacturers of semiconductor equipment expect 2006 to be the second largest year ever for sales of new semiconductor equipment, according to the mid-year edition of the SEMI Capital Equipment Consensus Forecast, released Monday at Semicon West 2006, being held this week in San Francisco. The forecast indicates that, following the anticipated decline of 11.3 percent in 2005, the equipment market will grow 18 percent to $38.8 billion in 2006. Survey respondents see the market remaining flat in 2007 and resuming double-digit growth over the following year to reach $44.1 billion in 2008. "Favorable economic conditions, increased demand for semiconductor devices and stable inventory levels have stimulated capital investment by the world’s chip makers in the first half of the year," said SEMI President and CEO Stanley T. Myers. "SEMI members anticipate strong sales of chip manufacturing equipment in 2006. Furthermore, they anticipate less dramatic fluctuations in future cycles consistent with end-market growth and long term diversification trends in consumer electronics." The SEMI Mid-Year Consensus Forecast indicates that the wafer processing equipment segment will experience the most significant level of growth this year at an estimated 20 percent to $27.4 billion. Survey respondents anticipate that the market for assembly and packaging equipment will grow 11.6 percent to $2.4 billion in 2006. The market for equipment to test semiconductors is expected to grow about 14 percent to $6 billion this year. The market in China for new equipment leads the growth trend in 2006, with a projected market increase of 78 percent, followed by Rest-of-World market regions (23 percent growth), Taiwan (22 percent growth) and North America (21 percent). Equipment sales in Europe are projected to raise 14 percent, while Korea and Japan will see growth in the high single digits, SEMI said. The SEMI Mid-Year Consensus Forecast is based on interviews conducted between late May and June 2006 with companies representing a majority of the total sales volume for the global semiconductor equipment industry. SEMI is a global industry association serving companies that develop and provide manufacturing technology, materials and services to make semiconductors, flat panel displays, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and related microelectronics. For more information, visit: www.semi.org