Data show that from 2014 to 2017, the capital expenditure of the domestic semiconductor industry was US$1.5 billion, US$2.2 billion, US$3.9 billion and US$7.9 billion, respectively.
IC Insights said that in addition to SMIC, Changjiang Storage, Hefei Rui, Fujian Jinhua, and Shanghai Huali will spend a lot of money to purchase equipment and expand new fabs in 2018 and 2019. The total capital expenditure of the 32 companies in the first quarter reported was 3.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.47%; it mainly concentrated on three packaging and testing companies, namely Changjiang Electronics Technology, Huatian Technology, and Tongfu Microelectronics.
Analysts said that the substantial increase in capital expenditures shows that the domestic semiconductor industry is booming. Semiconductor equipment manufacturers are expected to benefit first. As the core equipment is mostly imported, the benefit of domestic equipment manufacturers is limited. There are more opportunities for equipment manufacturers with advanced process technology.