對于東南亞的設備和材料供應商來說，美光半導體在NAND和Flash的新增支出，飛利浦和歐司朗，GLOBALFOUNDRIES的持續投資將會給他們創造很多新的機會。

東南亞地區固定設備支出在2013年下半年會略有提升，在2014年會有較強回復。總體前道晶圓廠設備支出預期會從2013年的8.1億美元翻倍至2014年的16.2億美元。主力投資為晶圓代工和記憶體，GLOBALFOUNDRIES Fab7廠擴產計劃在2014年中完成，UMC繼續Fab12i 廠技術升級至40nm制程。

Increased spending in NAND and flash by Micron, LEDs by Philips and Osram, and continued investments by GLOBALFOUNDRIES will create new opportunities for equipment and materials suppliers in Southeast Asia. These trends will be explored at the upcoming SEMICON Singapore 2013 which will take place May 7-9 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center. With a focus on new technologies and products for advanced IC packaging, test, and fab efficiency, as well as in new application areas including LEDs and MEMS, the event capitalizes on Southeast Asia’s strong contribution to the global semiconductor market.

For the Southeast Asia region, capital equipment investment will see some pickup in the second half of 2013 followed by a strong recovery in 2014. Overall front-end fab equipment spending is expected to double next year from $810 million in 2013 to $1.62 billion in 2014. Foundry and Memory are the two major sectors that invest most in the region. The GLOBALFOUNDRIES expansion plan at Fab 7 will be completed by mid-2014 while UMC continues to upgrade their Fab 12i capacity to 40nm process

The Southeast Asia region’s capacity growth for front-end fabs shows two percent increase this year and an expectation of  higher growth, eight percent, in 2014, exceeding overall global capacity growth of five percent according to the SEMI World Fab Forecast.  The growth will mainly be driven by memory sector, specifically from NAND flash capacity as Micron gears up for further expansion at its Singapore NAND flash facility next year plus ongoing capacity conversion from DRAM to NAND flash at Fab 7 (Tech). Singapore is emerging to become the third largest NAND flash manufacturing country in the world by the end of 2014.  The conversion and the expansion projects will drive related semiconductor investment in the region in 2013 and 2014.      

For the assembly and test sector, Southeast Asia has long been the focal point of the industry with a large installed capacity from both IDMs and OSATs.  This position contributes to the region being the largest packaging materials consumption market in the world, representing a market size of $6.6 billion in 2013 and $6.8 billion in 2014. The region’s back-end equipment investment remain significant with over $1 billion spending each year throughout 2012 to 2014, accounting for about 17% of worldwide share according to SEMI’s WWSEMS.

Aside from manufacturing capacity, Southeast Asia region is now extending its value proposition to IC design and R&D areas with more joint development projects between multi-national corporations (MNC) and local institutes. SEMI expects to see a more robust semiconductor ecosystem arise from the region as a result of these endeavors and as companies seek ready access to customers throughout Asia-Pacific and South Asia.

Currently, Singapore has 14 wafer fabrication plants, including the world’s top three wafer foundries.  Singapore also has 20 semiconductor assembly and test operations, including three of the world’s top six outsourced assembly and test companies. There are about 40 IC design centers, which comprise nine of the world’s “top 10” fabless IC design companies.