“On December 4, the day before Semicon Japan (December 5-7) opened, a press conference was held by the chairman of the SEMI Japan Promotional Committee Toshio Maruyama, Advantest chairman of the Board and Yoichi Nakagawa, a delegate of SEMI Japan along with SEMI president and CEO Dennis P. McGuirk. There were 24 more companies putting exhibitions this year than last year, making for a total of 855, including companies putting out joint displays. There were 1,935 booths, 257 fewer than last year. It was anticipated that there would be about 2,000 more visitors than last year, making for a grand total of 65,000 visitors, compared to the 63,000 who came to the exhibition last year. Regarding the increase in the number of companies and the decrease in the number of booths, Nakagawa, the SEMI Japan delegate explained, “Including the special programs for this year, this was due to an increase in companies putting on displays but using fewer booths. It’s anticipated that the number of visitors will increase, due to the general feeling that this a place where a lot of information can be obtained.” Regarding the status of the global scale of the semiconductor market for this year and the outlook as of next year, Dennis P. McGuirk, SEMI president and CEO, explained his outlook when he mentioned, “This year investment in fabs was up by 4% over last year, but next year it will be up by only 3%. The market for semiconductor fabrication devices was down by 12% this year, and it will be down by 2% next year. In any case the market will show a ray of light in 2014. Regarding the move over to the 450mm wafer, he showed his outlook for the future when he stated, “2014-2015 will be the time for the pilot frame, while mass production will start in 2018.”

Maruyama, the chairman of the SEMI Japan Promotional Committee, explained, “Although this has not been advertised very much, this year’s Semicon West will change its shape from being mainly a place where products are demonstrated to one where information is offered. Japanese companies account for half of the world’s top 20 producers of semiconductor fabrication devices in term of sales, holding 35% of the global market share, and a very high 70% of the market for materials including fab and packages. However, Japanese producers of semiconductor fabrication devices had had only a small presence up to now, so that the purpose of this year’s SEMICON Japan was to show visitors the great contribution Japanese companies had made to the industry. There was an increase in the categories of new displays such as that of power semiconductors. Numerous seminars were held free of charge, such as the 450mm forum. A lot of places were set aside for intercommunication.””