AI Fuels Record Chip Manufacturing Equipment SalesSEMI expects expansion to continue into 2026, driving sales to $138.1 billion
By News Desk 07.23.2025 0
Share Post
The global semiconductor market is experiencing unprecedented growth. Sales of manufacturing equipment are expected to set new record highs for three consecutive years through 2026. The rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and advancements in leading-edge technology are driving this surge.
According to SEMI, the industry association representing the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) forecast total sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to hit $125.5 billion in 2025, marking a 7.4% year-on-year increase. Furthermore, SEMI expects this robust expansion to continue into 2026, driving sales to reach an even higher $138.1 billion.
“Following strong growth in 2024, global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales are forecast to expand again this year and set a new record in 2026,” said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO. “While the semiconductor industry is closely monitoring macroeconomic uncertainty, AI-fueled demand for chip innovations is driving investments in capacity expansions and leading-edge production.”
 WFE segment is the fastest growingThe Wafer Fab Equipment (WFE) segment, which encompasses wafer processing, fab facilities, and mask/reticle equipment, primarily drives this growth. After achieving a record $104.3 billion in sales last year, WFE sales are projected to increase by 6.2% to $110.8 billion in 2025.
Partner Content
View All
Building innovation on 3 billion data points and AI: KIOXIA’s Yokkaichi Plant takes on the challenge of state-of-the-art manufacturing?
By KIOXIA 07.21.2025
Get the Lead Out: Supercomputing Powers Greener Materials
By Cristin Merritt, Communications Chair, SC25 07.21.2025
How AI is Pushing Semiconductor Manufacturing into a Generational Shift
By Kaihan Ashtiani, corporate vice president and general manager of ALD/CVD metals, Lam Research 07.16.2025
This figure represents an upward revision from SEMI’s earlier 2024 Year-End Equipment Forecast, primarily due to increased sales to foundry and memory applications.
As we look ahead to 2026, WFE segment sales will expand by 10.2%, reaching $122.1 billion. Capacity expansions in leading-edge logic and memory, which support AI applications, alongside ongoing process technology migrations across major segments, drive this.
Back-end experiences a strong recoveryThe back-end equipment segment is also experiencing a strong recovery that commenced in 2024. Sales of semiconductor test equipment are set to soar by a significant 23.2% in 2025, reaching a new record of $9.3 billion, building on a strong year-on-year growth of 20.3% in 2024. Additionally, assembly and packaging equipment sales, which grew 25.4% in 2024, are forecast to increase 7.7% to $5.4 billion in 2025.
Expansion in back-end equipment will persist in 2026, with test equipment sales rising 5.0% and assembly and packaging sales increasing 15.0%, marking three consecutive years of growth.
Substantial increases in device architecture complexity and rigorous performance requirements for AI and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors drive this trend. However, continued weakness in the automotive, industrial, and consumer end markets partially offsets growth in this segment.
Furthermore, sales for foundry and logic applications are expected to show stable growth of 6.7% year-over-year to $64.8 billion in 2025, primarily driven by robust demand for advanced nodes.
WFE could grow by another 6.6% in 2026, reaching $69.0 billion. Increased capacity expansion purchases and rising demand for leading-edge technologies, as the industry advances toward high-volume manufacturing at the 2nm gate-all-around (GAA) node, drive this.
NAND equipmentMemory-related capital expenditures will see a significant uplift. NAND equipment sales, recovering from a sharp contraction in 2023, are expected to expand by 42.5% to $13.7 billion in 2025 and by 9.7% to $15.0 billion in 2026. Advancements in 3D NAND stacking and capacity expansion drive this.
Meanwhile, DRAM equipment sales, which surged 40.2% in 2024 to $19.5 billion, are projected to grow 6.4% and 12.1% in 2025 and 2026, respectively, supporting critical investments in HBM for AI applications.
Asia continues to lead on investmentChina, Taiwan, and Korea will remain the top three destinations for equipment spending through 2026. China leads the pack, even as it could experience a decline from its record $49.5 billion investments in 2024.
Starting this year, all regions, except Europe, will likely see significant increases in equipment spending. However, heightened trade policy risks could influence the growth rate across these regions. |
