Semiconductor Equipment Forecast to Post Industry High of $100 Billion in 2022

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Global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment by original equipment manufacturers are forecast to surpass $100 billion next year, a new high, after jumping 34% to $95.3 billion in 2021 compared to $71.1 billion in 2020, SEMI announced in releasing its Mid-Year Total Semiconductor Equipment Forecast – OEM Perspective at the Innovation for a Transforming World virtual conference. Continuing investments by device makers in secular growth drivers are fueling the expansion of both the front-end and back-end semiconductor equipment segments.

The wafer fab equipment segment, which includes wafer processing, fab facilities, and mask/reticle equipment, is projected to surge 34% to a new industry record of $81.7 billion in 2021, followed by a 6% increase in 2022 to more than $86 billion.

The foundry and logic segments, accounting for more than a half of total wafer fab equipment sales, will grow 39% year-over-year to reach $45.7 billion in 2021 on strong demand for leading-edge technologies powered by the digitization of industries worldwide. The growth momentum is expected to continue in 2022 with the foundry and logic equipment investments rising another 8%.

Robust demand for memory and storage are driving spending on NAND and DRAM manufacturing equipment. The DRAM equipment segment is expected to lead the expansion in 2021, surging 46% to surpass $14 billion. The NAND flash equipment market is projected to increase 13% in 2021 to $17.4 billion and 9% in 2022 to $18.9 billion, respectively.

The assembly and packaging equipment segment is forecast to grow 56% to $6 billion in 2021, followed by a 6% increase in 2022, driven by advanced packaging applications. The semiconductor test equipment market is expected to grow 26% in 2021 to $7.6 billion and expand another 6% in 2022 on demand for 5G and high-performance computing (HPC) applications.

Regionally, Korea, Taiwan and China are projected to remain the top three destinations for equipment spending in 2021, with Korea at the top on the strength of a robust memory recovery and strong investments in leading-edge logic and foundry. Equipment spending for all regions tracked are expected to grow in 2021.