Temperatures are cooling off, but the path is still clear

Andrea Lati

• Order activity for semiconductor equipment continued to cool off, slipping to 88 degrees
• Despite the recent slowdown, order activity remains in a healthy expansion phase
• Bookings and backlogs are still hovering at record levels, especially for WFE suppliers
• Although the memory market has been eroding in 2H22, demand for semiconductor equipment remains strong
• We expect the equipment market to remain supply-constrained throughout 2022, which is why last week we lowered the equipment forecast by five points to 13%
• Chipmakers will keep a closer eye on capacity expansions in 2023 in order to prevent overcapacity
  • Memory manufacturers are already doing this and others could follow suit in 2023
• TechInsights’ Chip Price Performance Index continued to head south
  • DRAM tumbled
  • NAND plunged
  • MPUs declined
• Planned capacity additions are rising