The leading manufacturers of semiconductor equipment expect 2006 to be the second largest year ever for sales of new semiconductor equipment according to the mid-year edition of the SEMI Capital Equipment Consensus Forecast that was released today by SEMI at the annual SEMICON West exposition. Following an anticipated decline of 11.3% in 2005, the equipment market will grow 18% to US$38.8 billion in 2006 but survey respondents see the market remaining flat in 2007 but expect double-digit growth over the following year to reach US$44.1 billion in 2008.

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