Following spending of US$106.1 billion in 2018 and US$102.5 billion in 2019, worldwide semiconductor capex is expected to grow 6% to US$108.1 billion this year, according to IC Insights.

The foundry segment is estimated to represent 34% of semiconductor capital spending in 2020, the largest portion of all product/segment types, IC Insights indicated.

Foundry also held the largest share of spending in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. With a focus on being the leading provider of 7/5nm process technology, TSMC accounted for essentially all of the increase in foundry capital expenditures in 2019, IC Insights noted.

In 2020, IC Insights expects SMIC to represent 39% of the foundry segment's estimated US$10.1 billion increase in spending with TSMC representing 20% of the increase.

Foundry is also expected to post the largest percentage increase in capital spending at 38% this year, with the next highest rate expected to be registered by the logic segment with only a 4% increase, IC Insights said.

The segment with the second-most spending in 2020 is expected to be the flash/non-volatile memory category, IC Insights indicated. The vast majority of this spending is for 3D NAND technology advancement. Spending for the flash/non-volatile segment is expected to be flat at US$22.7 billion this year, which is 18% less than the US$27.8 billion spent in 2018, the peak year for expenditures in this product category.

Meanwhile, spending for flash memory is expected to be 37% greater than the outlays for the DRAM segment in 2020, IC Insights noted.

In 2017 and 2018, DRAM suppliers invested heavily in new fabs and equipment for sub-20nm process technology needed to manufacture next-generation devices. DRAM capex surged 79% in 2017 and 44% in 2018. With the build out largely completed, DRAM capital spending fell 17% in 2019 and is expected to decline another 13% in 2020, IC Insights said.

Despite the reduced spending on DRAM this year, Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron Technology are still expected to be ranked among the top five capex spenders for 2020, according to IC Insights.

By DIGITIMES