Semi capex to climb 10% in 2014

According to IC Insights, Intel and Samsung will each spend about $11billion, while TSMC will spend about $10bn. Among the top 10 spenders, six companies are forecast to spend at least $3.0bn in 2014, and nine suppliers are forecast to spend more than $1bn. After keeping their combined spending essentially flat in 2013, the top 10 spenders are forecast to boost capex spending by 10% in 2014. Nine of the top 10 semiconductor industry capital spenders are expected to increase their semiconductor capital expenditures in 2014. In contrast, only four of the top 10 capital spenders increased their spending levels in 2013. Meanwhile, capex spending among 'other' suppliers is expected to grow at a much slower 3% rate this year, but that is a marked improvement from the 15% decline registered by the 'other' segment in 2013. In the long run, IC Insights believes that 'other' companies will likely increase their spending at a lower rate, or decrease their spending at a higher rate, as compared to the top 10 companies as they implement the fabless or fab-lite business models for their IC production.