Rising demand for advanced packaging, HBM and AI chips is expected to push the market to nearly $25 billion by 2031, according to Yole Group.
The global semiconductor metrology and inspection equipment market exceeded $18 billion in 2025, accounting for around 14% of total wafer fabrication equipment spending, according to a report by Yole Group. The market is projected to grow to nearly $25 billion by 2031, driven by rising demand for process-control technologies in advanced chip manufacturing.
The report attributes the growth to the increasing complexity of semiconductor production, fueled by artificial intelligence (AI), high-bandwidth memory (HBM), advanced packaging and chiplet-based architectures. As manufacturers move beyond conventional two-dimensional scaling to technologies such as three-dimensional integration, hybrid bonding and heterogeneous packaging, ensuring production quality has become more challenging.
These advances have heightened the need for metrology and inspection tools capable of detecting defects, improving measurement accuracy and maximizing manufacturing yields. The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is also increasing demand for advanced packaging, where issues such as wafer warpage, alignment errors and buried defects can significantly affect chip performance.
Yole Group noted that process control is becoming a key competitive advantage as semiconductor companies seek to improve efficiency and shorten time-to-market for increasingly sophisticated chips.
The competitive landscape continues to be led by companies such as KLA, Applied Materials and Lasertec, while newer opportunities are emerging in software, data analytics, hybrid metrology and specialized inspection solutions. The adoption of High-NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is also expected to drive demand for more advanced process-control technologies.
The report added that geopolitical tensions and localization efforts, particularly in China, are reshaping the market by encouraging domestic equipment development while creating a more fragmented global semiconductor supply chain. Despite these shifts, demand for advanced metrology and inspection solutions is expected to remain strong as AI-driven semiconductor innovation accelerates.
