This Year’s Semiconductor Equipment Investment Hits Record High... Foundry Share Exceeds Half

International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Association Reveals Expected Equipment Investment Scale for This Year
Slight Decrease Compared to June Forecast

Annual Semiconductor Factory Equipment Investment Scale and Forecast / Source=SEMI

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] There is a forecast that this year’s semiconductor factory equipment investment scale could be the largest ever. It is also predicted that the main investments will be made in the foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) sector. However, this forecast is smaller than the one released in June.

According to the semiconductor industry on the 29th, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) recently reported that this year’s equipment investment amount for semiconductor production factories is expected to reach $99 billion (approximately 142.51 trillion KRW), a 9% increase from last year. With this equipment investment, the global production capacity (capability) growth rate is expected to reach 8% this year.

Earlier in June, SEMI predicted that $109 billion (approximately 156.91 trillion KRW) would be invested this year, but this forecast was revised downward. Although the detailed reasons were not disclosed, the semiconductor industry expects that the investment reduction atmosphere due to the global economic slowdown influenced this adjustment.

SEMI explained that the expected equipment investment amount this year is the largest ever. It also added that 53% of the total investment this year is expected to be generated in the foundry sector. The memory sector’s share is expected to be 32%. SEMI stated that these proportions are expected to be similar next year.

By region, Taiwan’s investment amount this year is expected to increase by 47% compared to last year, reaching $30 billion (approximately 43.19 trillion KRW). Taiwan is home to several foundry companies, including TSMC, the world’s number one foundry operator. Meanwhile, South Korea’s expected investment amount is $22.2 billion (approximately 31.96 trillion KRW), a 5.5% decrease from the previous year. China is expected to invest $22 billion (approximately 31.67 trillion KRW), down 11.7%. Although Europe and the Middle East have smaller investment amounts compared to other regions, SEMI explained that their growth is remarkable due to increasing demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and other areas.

SEMI forecasted that next year’s semiconductor production factory equipment investment will reach $97 billion (139.63 trillion KRW), a 2% decrease from this year. The capacity growth rate next year is expected to be 5.3%. Ajit Manocha, SEMI’s CEO, said, “The global fab equipment market, which achieved record results this year, is expected to continue new fab and upgrade demand next year.”

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