SEMI "Semiconductor Fab Equipment Spending to Reach $76 Billion This Year... Down 22%"

Statistics Announced Including 1,470 Production Facilities and 142 New Facilities Scheduled for Production

This year, global semiconductor fab equipment spending is expected to shrink by 22% due to sluggish market conditions. In the memory semiconductor fab sector, which is highly sensitive to economic fluctuations, equipment spending could plunge by about 44%. Next year, with market recovery, fab equipment spending is anticipated to increase worldwide.

On the 21st, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) forecasted that this year’s global fab equipment spending will decrease by 22% from last year’s record high of $98 billion to $76 billion. Due to worsening market conditions such as rising inventories of mobile and consumer electronic devices, semiconductor demand and equipment spending are expected to decline.

Looking at fab equipment investment by sector, foundry spending is expected to decrease by 12.1% year-on-year to $43.4 billion this year. The memory sector is projected to record a sharp drop of 44.4% from the previous year to $17.1 billion. The analog and power semiconductor sector is expected to grow by 1.3% to $9.7 billion, supported by growth in the automotive semiconductor market.

Next year, fab equipment spending is expected to surge by 21% from this year to $92 billion. SEMI anticipates a recovery in spending driven by increased investments in high-performance computing (HPC) and automotive semiconductors. SEMI CEO Ajit Manocha explained, "Demand from automotive, computing, and various applications will drive equipment investments."

Next year, Taiwan’s fab equipment spending is expected to increase by 4.2% from this year to $24.9 billion, making it the largest single-country market. South Korea is projected to record a sharp increase of 41.5% to $21 billion. The North American region is expected to grow by 23.9% to $11 billion, and Europe and the Middle East are forecasted to increase by 36% to $8.2 billion.