This is going to be the lowest year for fab spending since 1994, according to the World Fab Forecast by SEMI International, the trade body for the equipment makers.
Throughout the world, only eight new semiconductor wafer fabs are expected to come on-line this year, says the report, with the possibility of another 18 coming on-stream in 2010.
For more see David Manners blog
However out of all the world's major regions the US is likely to be best off because of the spending by Intel and AMD. Apart from America, the rest of the world will see a double digit decline on fab spending this year, says SEMI.