Global spending on 12-inch fab equipment this year is forecast to drop 18 percent year-on-year to US$74 billion, following growth of 7 percent last year, SEMI said yesterday.
However, spending is expected to rebound next year and grow over the next three years, thanks to strong demand for high-performance computing and automotive applications, the industry association said in its quarterly outlook report.
Increased demand for memory chips is contributing to rising equipment investments, the report said.
Photo: AFP
Equipment spending is forecast to rise 12 percent to US$82 billion next year, increase 24 percent to US$101.9 billion in 2025 and grow 17 percent to US$118.8 billion in 2026, SEMI said.
“We expect a wave of growth in 12-inch fab equipment spending from next year, underscoring the strong secular demand for semiconductors,” said SEMI chief marketing officer Terry Tsao (曹世綸), who is also president of SEMI Taiwan.
“The foundry and memory segments will play a key role in this growth, which shows the demand for chips across a wide range of end markets and applications,” he said in a statement.
By region, South Korea is expected to lead global 12-inch fab equipment spending in 2026, with the country’s investments estimated to double to US$30.2 billion, compared with US$15.7 billion this year, the report said.
SEMI expects Taiwan’s spending to come second, with 12-inch fab equipment spending reaching US$23.8 billion in 2026, up from US$22.4 billion this year, it said.
Ranking third, China’s spending is projected to reach US$16.1 billion in 2026, an increase from US$14.9 billion this year, the report said.
Equipment spending in the US is expected to nearly double from US$9.6 billion this year to US$18.8 billion in 2026, it added.
By segment, the foundry industry is projected to take a lead in equipment spending at US$62.1 billion in 2026, up from US$44.6 billion this year, SEMI said.
Major product categories, including memory, analogue and logic chips, are expected to see marked increases in equipment spending over the next three years, it said, adding that fab spending on microprocessors and microcontrollers, discrete chips and optoelectronics semiconductors is expected to decline in 2026.
REGIONAL COMPETITION: Over the past few years the Philippines has lost ground to neighbors such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, a Philippine official said The Philippines is trying to enlist Taiwanese chip giants to expand in semiconductors, a bid to catch up with its neighbors who are emerging as significant suppliers in the industry. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) are among companies the Philippines is reaching out to as it seeks equipment and expertise to build out chip fabrication operations, said Dan Lachica, head of the Southeast Asian country’s main electronics industry group, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc (SEIPI). The association is working with Philippine officials in Taiwan to talk with potential
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), potentially breaching US sanctions, a government official said. The US slapped sanctions on Huawei in 2019, and expanded them the following year, over fears its technology could be used for Beijing’s espionage operations. The restrictions prevent TSMC from selling semiconductors to Huawei. However, TSMC discovered on Oct. 11 that chips made for a “specific customer” had ended up with the Chinese company, a Taiwanese official with knowledge of the incident said on the condition of anonymity. TSMC “immediately activated
Nvidia Corp is set to unveil investment plans for Thailand, joining Alphabet Inc and Microsoft Corp, as Southeast Asia becomes a hot spot for building artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and manufacturing the components that power them. The US chip designing firm would announce investments during chief executive officer Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) trip to Bangkok in December, Thai Minister of Commerce Pichai Naripthaphan said on Monday. He declined to give details on the investment or how much the company would bring into Thailand. The investment by Nvidia could lead to more funding “with related clusters following suit,” Pichai said. Clinching
Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) yesterday said it had terminated a deal with SBI Holdings Inc to help build a chip manufacturing plant in Japan, as Powerchip found it unpractical to take the full responsibility of operating a plant it does not own for more than 10 years. Powerchip, Taiwan’s third-largest contract chipmaker, inked a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SBI in July last year to explore the possibility of building a 12-inch chip fab in Japan. According to the MOU, Powerchip’s role was that of a technology provider, as the company hopes to generate a new revenue stream,