Global semiconductor equipment sales on track to hit US$118b in 2022, says SEMI

Global semiconductor equipment sales on track to hit US$118b in 2022, says SEMI

13 Jul 2022

KUALA LUMPUR (July 13): Global sales of total semiconductor manufacturing equipment by original equipment manufacturers are forecast to reach a record US$117.5 billion (about RM520.88 billion) in 2022, up 14.7% from the previous industry high of US$102.5 billion in 2021, and increase to US$120.8 billion in 2023.

In the mid-year total semiconductor equipment forecast — OEM perspective released on Tuesday (July 12) by US-based Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), both the front-end and back-end semiconductor equipment segments are said to be contributing to the market expansion.

SEMI said the wafer fab equipment segment, which includes wafer processing, fab facilities, and mask/reticle equipment, is projected to expand 15.4% to a new industry record of US$101 billion in 2022, followed by a 3.2% increase to US$104.3 billion in 2023.

SEMI president and chief executive officer Ajit Manocha said in line with the semiconductor industry’s determined push to increase and upgrade capacity, the wafer fab equipment segment is poised to reach the US$100 billion milestone for the first time in 2022.

“Secular trends across a diverse range of markets, coupled with strong investments in digital infrastructure, are powering another record year,” he said.

SEMI said that driven by demand for both leading-edge and mature process nodes, the foundry and logic segments are expected to increase 20.6% year-on-year to US$55.2 billion in 2022, and another 7.9% to US$59.5 billion in 2023.

It said the two segments account for more than half of total wafer fab equipment sales.

The association said strong demand for memory and storage continues to contribute to DRAM and NAND equipment spending this year.

The DRAM equipment segment is leading the expansion in 2022, with expected growth of 8% to US$17.1 billion.

The NAND equipment market is projected to grow 6.8% to US$21.1 billion this year. DRAM and NAND equipment expenditures are expected to slip 7.7% and 2.4% respectively in 2023.

After surging 86.5% in 2021, the assembly and packaging equipment segment is expected to grow 8.2% to US$7.8 billion in 2022 and edge down 0.5% to US$7.7 billion in 2023.

The semiconductor test equipment market is forecast to grow 12.1% to US$8.8 billion in 2022, and another 0.4% in 2023, on demand for high-performance computing applications.

SEMI said that regionally, Taiwan, China, and South Korea are projected to remain the top three equipment buyers in 2022.

It said Taiwan is expected to regain the top position in 2022 and 2023, followed by China and South Korea.

Equipment spending for other regions tracked, except for the rest of the world, which is expected to grow in 2022 and 2023.

Source: The Edge Markets