Gartner Dataquest Says Worldwide Semiconductor Packaging Equipment Market Decreased 56 Percent in 2001.

Business & Technology Editors

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 2002

The worldwide semiconductor packaging equipment market in 2001 suffered the worst contraction in its history, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB).

Worldwide semiconductor packaging equipment revenue reached $2.98 billion in 2001, a 55.8 decline from 2000 revenue.

"Evidenced by the market downturn, equipment segment performance was down in all categories in 2001," said Jim Walker, principal analyst of Gartner Dataquest's semiconductor research group. "Equipment for wafer-level packaging technologies decreased at a slower rate than the more mature die-level processes. For example, advanced packaging lithography decreased less than 1 percent, whereas wire bonders decreased over 70 percent. Overall, however, wire bonders continued to be the largest equipment segment for semiconductor packaging, accounting for almost one-fifth of the revenue at 19.4 percent of the total market."

The packaging equipment market remained highly distributed, as the leading vendors, Kulicke & Soffa and Tokyo Seimitsu, each accounted for just 6 percent of the total market (see Table 1). All of the top-tier vendors experienced a decline in revenue in 2001.

Table 1
Top 10 Worldwide Semiconductor Packaging/Assembly Vendors in 2001
(Millions of U.S. Dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                        2001     2001      2000     2000    2001-2000
                     Revenue    Market   Revenue   Market   Growth (%)
Company                        Share (%)          Share (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kulicke & Soffa         179       6.0       610       9.0     -70.7
Tokyo Seimitsu          178       6.0       450       6.7     -60.5
ASM Pacific             135       4.5       426       6.3     -68.3
Advantest               127       4.2       275       4.1     -54.0
Tokyo Electron          113       3.8       264       3.9     -57.3
Shinkawa                105       3.5       357       5.3     -70.7
BE Semiconductor, Fico   98       3.3       139       2.1     -29.5
ESEC                     93       3.1       357       5.3     -73.9
Delta Design             80       2.7        NA         -         -
Dai-Ichi Seiko           78       2.6       210       3.1     -62.7
Others                1,796      60.2     3,662      54.3     -51.0
Total Market          2,981     100.0     6,749     100.0     -55.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Columns may not add to totals because of rounding.
Source: Gartner Dataquest (April 2002)

"We believe that growth will return the second half of 2002, but not enough to bring about a positive growth rate for the year," said Walker. "However, as array packaging continues to grow, and its derivatives of flip chip, wafer level and chip-scale packaging become more predominant, changes will be evident in 2003. This will become evident as the demand for flip chip bonders, wafer bumping equipment and solder deposition increase."

This year, Gartner Dataquest market share results were based on using SAB 101 revenue in accordance with changes in accounting policy mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. These changes primarily affect companies publicly traded on U.S. stock exchanges, but SAB 101 policies have been adopted by a few other companies as well.

Gartner Dataquest has released a series of Alerts providing 2001 market share results for the semiconductor equipment and manufacturing industry. Additional information is available in the Alert "Semiconductor Packaging Equipment Market Decreases by 56 Percent in 2001." There are additional Alerts titled "Wafer Fab Equipment market Declines 29.8 Percent in 2001" and "Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Sales Contract 34 Percent in 2001" that examine the top-tier vendors in the semiconductor equipment and packaging industries.

This research is produced by Gartner Dataquest's Semiconductors Worldwide group. This research group combines memory, microcomponents, logic, ASIC, analog, discrete device, RF and optical segments into a complete industry picture. Products, suppliers, startups, technologies, regional consumption, applications and emerging technologies are all covered in this broad program. More information about information can be found in the Gartner Semiconductor Focus Area at http://www.gartner.com/1_researchanalysis/focus/semimkt_fa.html. To subscribe to this service, please call 408-468-8000. Reports can be purchased on the Internet at www.gartner.com.

Gartner Dataquest is the recognized leader in providing the high-technology and financial communities with market intelligence for the semiconductor, computer systems and peripherals, communications, document management, software, and services sectors of the global information technology industry.

Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm that helps more than 11,000 clients understand technology and drive business growth. Gartner's divisions consist of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting, Gartner Measurement and Gartner Events. Founded in 1979, Gartner, Inc. is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and consists of 4,300 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in more than 90 locations worldwide. The company achieved fiscal 2001 revenue of $952 million. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.