North American semiconductor equipment shipments in March totaled $2.03 billion, up 69.2% from the previous year.

The Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) announced that total North American semiconductor equipment shipments in March amounted to $2.03 billion.

SEMI publishes the shipment values of semiconductor equipment manufacturers in North America as a three-month average in its report. March shipments increased by 2.6% compared to the $1.97 billion in February, and rose by 69.2% compared to the $1.2 billion in March of the previous year.

Shipments of front-end equipment in March totaled $1.81 billion, a 1.3% increase from $1.79 billion in February and a 77% increase from $1.02 billion in March of the previous year. The front-end equipment category includes wafer processing, mask/reticle manufacturing, wafer manufacturing, and fab facilities.

Shipments of back-end process equipment in March amounted to $220 million, up 15.7% from $190 million in February of last year and up 24.1% from $180 million in March of last year. The back-end process equipment category refers to assembly and packaging, test equipment, etc.

SEMI Senior Analyst Dan Tracy said, “Since March 2001, shipments in March 2017 have reached a high level,” adding, “The semiconductor equipment industry is benefiting from the recent semiconductor investment cycle.”