According to SEAJ (Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan), chip-making equipment orders for Japanese companies decreased 40.1% year-on-year in May 2005, as orders fell from 154.3 billion Yen in May 2004 to 92.5 billion Yen in May 2005. This decrease was the largest in the past 39 months in terms of percentage points. Furthermore, sales of Japanese chip-making equipment companies amounted to 88.5 billion Yen in May 2005, falling 29% year-on-year and 5% sequentially.

 

Demand from every major semiconductor region went down, including China, Taiwan, North America and South Korea. The main reason for this fall in demand for chip-making equipment was the fact that semiconductor makers have been lowering capital expenditure as sales growth is projected to come to a standstill in 2005. Japanese chip-making equipment companies include Advantest, Tokyo Electron, Disco and Yokogawa.