The worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment surged to $39.54 billion in 2010, posting a record year-over-year increase of 148 per cent, said a new report.

SEMI, the global industry association for companies that supply manufacturing technology and materials to the world’s chip makers, said the report also includes data for seven major semiconductor producing regions and 24 product categories.

The report, compiled from data submitted by members of SEMI and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ), is a summary of the monthly billings and bookings figures for the global semiconductor equipment industry.

According to Semi, the global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment touched $15.92 billion in 2009.

The categories cover wafer processing, assembly and packaging, test, and other front-end equipment. Other front-end includes mask/reticle manufacturing, wafer manufacturing, and fab facilities equipment, it added.

Accoring to Semi, the spending increased by double-digits to triple-digits for all regions tracked in the report, with the steepest hike witnessed in China and Korea.

For the second year in a row, Taiwan topped the region in spending with a $11.19 billion bill for equipment sales. In second place, the Korea market had $8.33 billion in sales, the report added.

The global wafer processing equipment market segment increased 149 per cent; the assembly and packaging segment soared 176 per cent, while the total test equipment sales was up 167 per cent.

The other front end equipment sales grew by 78 per cent, the Semi report added.-TradeArabia News Service