This Year's Global Semiconductor Equipment Sales Peak at $108.5 Billion... Contraction Expected Next Year

Global Semiconductor Equipment Sales Reach Record High for Three Consecutive Years

Semiconductor Equipment Sales Forecast by Segment / Provided by SEMI

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] It is forecasted that global semiconductor equipment sales will reach a record high of $108.5 billion this year. However, a decline in sales is expected next year.

On the 13th, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) projected that this year's global semiconductor equipment sales will increase by 5.9% from last year's $102.5 billion to $108.5 billion. They also added that this would mark the third consecutive year of record-breaking sales since 2020.

Ajit Manocha, CEO of SEMI, stated, "With a record increase in new fabs (factories), global semiconductor equipment sales have exceeded $100 billion for two consecutive years. The emergence of new applications is expected to drive steady growth in the semiconductor industry over the next decade, leading to capacity expansion and additional investments."

SEMI expects wafer fab equipment sales this year to rise by 8.3% from the previous year to $94.8 billion. In particular, sales growth is notable in the foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) and logic sectors, which account for more than half of total wafer fab equipment sales. In fact, semiconductor equipment sales in these sectors are projected to increase by 16% year-on-year to $53 billion.

On the other hand, due to weak memory demand, DRAM equipment sales are expected to decline by 10% from the previous year to $14.3 billion. In the backend equipment sector, semiconductor test equipment sales are forecasted to decrease by 2.6% to $7.6 billion, and assembly and packaging sales are expected to drop by 14.9% to $6.1 billion.

Next year, global semiconductor equipment sales are expected to show an overall negative growth. SEMI forecasts that next year's global semiconductor equipment sales will reach $91.2 billion, with sales in wafer fab, DRAM, and backend equipment sectors all declining compared to this year.

However, a recovery is anticipated in 2024. SEMI stated, "Both frontend and backend sectors are expected to grow and rebound in 2024."

Meanwhile, SEMI projected that global semiconductor production facility investments will exceed $500 billion over the three years from last year through 2023. Especially, investments are expected to increase driven by demand centered on automotive semiconductors and high-performance computing (HPC). It also forecasted that 33 new fabs and production lines will be established this year, followed by 28 next year.

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