Global semiconductor equipment sales are expected to rise 9.1 per cent in 2006, an industry group said, revising up its July forecast of 8.1 per cent growth.

Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said sales of tools used to make and test microchips are likely to total $35.97 billion in 2006, up from estimated sales in 2005 of $32.95 billion. That figure would be an 11.2 per cent decline from 2004.
The forecasts follow a series of industry data and developments suggesting a robust recovery in demand ahead, said a Reuters report. Intel Corp and Micron Technology said in November they would form a venture to make hot-selling Nand-type flash memory, boosting shares of Advantest Corp, Tokyo Electron Ltd and other chip equipment makers.
Later in the month, Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics, which groups more than 40 global chip makers, said the utilisation rate of the world’s microchip plants rose for a second straight quarter in July-September.
The California-based SEMI expects chip equipment sales to grow 12.3 per cent in 2007, up from a previous estimate in July of 10.1 per cent growth.
For 2008, SEMI now estimates that sales will grow 15.4 per cent from a year earlier, compared with its July forecast of a 14.0 per cent expansion.