Rising AI investments and demand for advanced memory and chipmaking technologies are expected to push global semiconductor equipment spending to new highs through 2028.
Global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales are projected to hit a record US$165.9 billion in 2026, up 23.2 per cent from a year earlier, as investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure continue to accelerate, according to Communications Today, citing SEMI’s mid-year total semiconductor equipment forecast.
The industry body expects the growth momentum to continue through 2028, with equipment sales forecast to climb to US$229.5 billion, marking five straight years of expansion. The increase is being driven by higher spending on advanced logic chips, memory technologies, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and increasingly complex chip architectures.
“AI is accelerating demand for more powerful and efficient chips, driving increased investment across the semiconductor capital equipment market,” said Ajit Manocha, President and CEO of SEMI. He added that chipmakers are increasing investments in leading-edge logic, advanced memory, testing and packaging to support the AI era.
The wafer fab equipment (WFE) segment is expected to grow 23.1 per cent to US$143.9 billion in 2026 following record sales last year, while semiconductor test equipment revenue is projected to rise 31 per cent to US$15.3 billion. Memory equipment spending is also forecast to strengthen, with dynamic random access memory (DRAM) equipment sales reaching US$38.8 billion and NAND equipment sales US$13.9 billion in 2026.
According to Communications Today, China, Taiwan and South Korea will remain the world’s largest semiconductor equipment markets through 2028, supported by AI-driven capacity expansion, advanced memory investments and government-backed manufacturing initiatives.
