Sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment in 2020 tanked by 20% in North America in 2020 while sales soared by 39% in China, to position it as the top-ranked region globally for the first time.
The comparison of China with North America (a region heavily focused on the U.S.) shows the growing disparity in the semiconductor industries between the two regions.
The North American decline of 20% in 2020 followed three years of consecutive growth, leaving the region in fifth place globally. For 2020, North American sales were $6.53 billion, down from $8.15 billion in 2019, according to trade group SEMI on Tuesday. The group represents 2,400 member companies in the global electronics product design and manufacturing supply chain. The only region smaller than North American was Europe.
Meanwhile, China in 2020 saw 39% growth in equipment sales reaching $18,72 billion, compared to $13.45 billion in 2019. For the entire globe, sales reached a record $71.2 billion in 2020, up 19% from $59.75 billion in 2019.
The equipment tallies include wafer processing, assembly and packaging, test and other front-end equipment including mask/reticle manufacturing, wafer manufacturing and fab facilities.
After China reached the top spot in 2020, Taiwan finished second with $17.15 billion in sales, up by 0.2%, after strong growth in 2019. Korea finished third with $16.08 billion, up by 61%, while Japan finished fourth with $7.58 billion, up by 21% and just ahead of North America. Europe sold $2.64 billion in 2020, an improvement of 16%, after contraction in 2019, SEMI reported.
Semiconductor equipment sales are a leading indicator of production of chips in each region. In the U.S., major chip companies like Intel are pushing for more chip fabrication plants and have urged the U.S. government to support tax incentives and other measures to bolster domestic chip production.
President Biden has proposed $50 billion in his $2.2 trillion infrastructure package specifically focused on chip manufacturing and claimed on Monday that he has bipartisan support in Congress.