Taipei, Jan. 26, 2010 (CENS)--Planning to spend US$1.1 billion on equipment installation this year alone, Inotera Memories Inc. is placed for the first time on IC Insights` rankings of top 10 capital expenditure chipmakers.

Inotera, an affiliate of the Formosa Plastics Group, plans to spend the capital on leading-edge process and capacity expansion.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), currently the world`s No.1 pure silicon foundry, is the other Taiwanese chipmaker on the 2010 ranking list with capital expenditure set at US$3 billion.

Samsung is the No.1 on the list, planning to spend US$6 billion, followed by Intel with US$5.3 billion. TSMC takes the No.3 place, leading Hynix (US$2 billion), Toshiba (US$1.95 billion), AMD (US$1.9 billion), Inotera and Elpida (US$1 billion).

Industry watchers have expected TSMC to revise upward the outlay to US$4-4.5 billion this year in light of tight capacity.

In total, the semiconductor industry is estimated to spend US$36.9 billion worldwide on expansion by the end of this year, soaring 45% from 2009, according to IC Insights. In 2009, the global spending declined 41% year on year.

IC Insights estimated the spending this year would rise quarter by quarter, with US$8.1 billion projected for the first quarter, US$8.8 billion for the second quarter, US$9.6 billion for the third quarter and US$10.5 billion for the fourth quarter.

The market consulting firm pointed out that memory-chip makers spent a total of US$32.3 billion in 2007, hitting a record high. It estimated although the chipmakers would together spend US$14.4 billion this year, a sum higher than their combined 2009 spending of US$6.8 billion, the expenditure would remain short to cope with a robust market.

(by Ken Liu)