This Year's Global Semiconductor Factory Equipment Investment 'Record High'... Korea Expected to Rank 1st

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The scale of equipment investment deployed in semiconductor factories worldwide is expected to reach an all-time high this year. Following last year, the semiconductor boom is expected to continue this year, with Korea anticipated to outpace Taiwan and China in the largest equipment investment.

On the 12th, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) forecasted that the global semiconductor factory equipment investment this year will reach $98 billion (approximately 116.6 trillion KRW), a 10% increase compared to the previous year. This marks the third consecutive year of growth following 2020 and 2021. SEMI explained that the three-year consecutive expansion in equipment investment previously occurred in the mid-1990s and again during the semiconductor supercycle from 2016 to 2018, after which it slowed down before returning.

By sector, it is estimated that 46% of this year’s semiconductor factory equipment investment, the largest portion, will be in foundries (contract manufacturing). Following that, the memory semiconductor sector is expected to account for 37%. SEMI predicted that while investment in DRAM will decrease this year, spending on 3D NAND flash will expand. Expenditure in the microcontroller field is also expected to increase by 47% compared to the previous year.

By country, Korea is expected to rank first, accounting for 73% of the total equipment investment. Domestic semiconductor manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix made large-scale equipment investments last year and are expected to increase their investment scale this year. Taiwan ranks second, with investment expected to increase by 14% compared to last year, while China, ranked third, is estimated to reduce investment by 20% compared to last year.

Ajit Manocha, Chairman of SEMI, stated, "With the broad development of technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous devices, semiconductor manufacturers are expanding production capacity to meet demand, leading the semiconductor equipment market to experience unprecedented growth," adding, "The expansion of production capacity has surpassed the strong demand sustained during the pandemic period."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.