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Semiconductor industry rebounds: AI and strategic investments drive 21 percent surge

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The global market for the highly specialized equipment used to manufacture semiconductors is experiencing a significant uplift, with billings soaring 21 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2025 to hit $32.05 billion.

This strong start to the year, highlighted in SEMI’s Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) Report, signals robust health in a critical sector underpinning the entire tech world.

The primary engines behind this growth? The relentless artificial intelligence (AI) boom and proactive, large-scale investments in future chipmaking capacity across the globe. [Read more…] about Semiconductor industry rebounds: AI and strategic investments drive 21 percent surge

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales surge to $117 billion

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Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment increased 10 percent to $117.1 billion in 2024 from $106.3 billion in 2023, according to a report by SEMI, the industry association representing the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain.

The data is now available in the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) report.

In 2024, the global front-end semiconductor equipment market experienced notable growth, with sales of wafer processing equipment increasing by 9 percent and other front-end segments rising by 5 percent. [Read more…] about Semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales surge to $117 billion

Global semiconductor manufacturing equipment investment expected to reach $110 billion

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Global fab equipment spending for front-end facilities in 2025 is anticipated to increase by 2 percent year-over-year (YoY) to $110 billion, marking the sixth consecutive year of growth since 2020, according to industry association SEMI. 

Fab equipment spending is projected to rise by 18 percent in the following year, reaching $130 billion.

This growth in investment is driven not only by demand in the high-performance computing (HPC) and memory sectors to support data center expansions, but also by the increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI), which is driving up the silicon content required for edge devices. [Read more…] about Global semiconductor manufacturing equipment investment expected to reach $110 billion

Eighteen new semiconductor fabs to start construction in 2025

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The semiconductor industry is expected to start 18 new fab construction projects in 2025, according to SEMI’s latest quarterly World Fab Forecast report.

The new projects include three 200mm and fifteen 300mm facilities, the majority of which are expected to begin operations from 2026 to 2027.

In 2025, the Americas and Japan are the leading regions with four projects each. The China and Europe & Middle East regions are each tied for third place with three planned construction projects. [Read more…] about Eighteen new semiconductor fabs to start construction in 2025

Omron unveils latest version of its table tennis playing robot

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Omron, one of the world’s largest industrial automation companies, says it plans to participate in Semicon Japan 2024, which will be held on at Tokyo Big Sight, early next month.

At Semicon Stadium, where an interactive experience is offered by the event organizer SEMI Japan, the 9th generation of Omron’s table tennis robot, Forpheus, the symbol of Omron’s core technology, will make its global debut.

A feature exhibit at the Omron booth will be the CT-type X-ray automatic inspection system, which examines the soldering quality inside semiconductor packages and on mounting boards used in electric vehicles and data centers for generative AI applications. [Read more…] about Omron unveils latest version of its table tennis playing robot

Worldwide silicon wafer shipments increase 6 percent in Q3 2024, SEMI Reports

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Worldwide silicon wafer shipments increased 5.9 percent quarter-over-quarter to 3,214 million square inches (MSI) in the third quarter of 2024 and registered 6.8 percent growth from the 3,010 million square inches recorded during the same quarter last year, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

Lee Chungwei, chairman of SEMI SMG and vice president and chief auditor at GlobalWafers, says: “The third quarter wafer shipment results continued the upward trend which started in the second quarter of this year.

“Inventory levels have declined throughout the supply chain but generally remain high. Demand for advanced wafers used for AI continues to be strong.

[Read more…] about Worldwide silicon wafer shipments increase 6 percent in Q3 2024, SEMI Reports

Global semiconductor industry plans to invest $400 billion in 300 mm fab equipment over next three years

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semiconductor photoGlobal spending on 300 mm fab equipment is expected to reach a record $400 billion from 2025 to 2027, SEMI highlighted in its quarterly 300 mm Fab Outlook Report to 2027 report.

The robust spending is being driven by the regionalization of semiconductor fabs and the increasing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips used in data centers and edge devices.

Worldwide, 300 mm fab equipment spending is projected to grow by 4 percent to $99.3 billion in 2024, and further increase by 24 percent to $123.2 billion in 2025, surpassing the $100 billion level for the first time.  [Read more…] about Global semiconductor industry plans to invest $400 billion in 300 mm fab equipment over next three years

Global semiconductor manufacturing industry ‘strengthens’ in second quarter

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The global semiconductor manufacturing industry in the second quarter of 2024 continued to show signs of improvement with significant growth of IC sales, stabilizing capital expenditure, and an increase in installed wafer fab capacity, according to industry association SEMI. 

The organization revealed its findings in its Q2 2024 publication of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Monitor (SMM) Report, prepared in partnership with TechInsights.

While slower recovery in some end markets impacted the pace of growth in the first half of the year, the surge in demand for AI chips and high bandwidth memory (HBM) created strong tailwinds driving industry expansion.

Seasonality and weaker than expected consumer demand impacted electronics sales in the first half of 2024 resulting in a 0.8 percent decrease year-over-year (YoY). Starting Q3 2024, electronics sales are forecast to see a rebound, growing 4 percent YoY and 9 percent relative to Q2 2024.

[Read more…] about Global semiconductor manufacturing industry ‘strengthens’ in second quarter

Worldwide silicon wafer shipments increase 7 percent

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Worldwide silicon wafer shipments increased 7.1 percent quarter-over-quarter to 3,035 million square inches (MSI) in the second quarter of 2024 but saw an 8.9 percent decline from the 3,331 million square inches recorded during the same quarter last year, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

Lee Chungwei, chairman of SEMI SMG and vice president and chief auditor at GlobalWafers, says: “The silicon wafer market is recovering driven by strong demand related to products for data centers and generative AI.

“While the recovery is uneven across different applications, 300mm wafer Q2 shipments indicated 8% quarter-over-quarter growth for the best performance among all wafer sizes. There are a growing number of new semiconductor fabs under construction or ramping production volume.

[Read more…] about Worldwide silicon wafer shipments increase 7 percent

Global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales reach all-time record $108 billion

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Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment increased 5 percent from $102.6 billion in 2021 to an all-time record of $107.6 billion last year, SEMI, the industry association representing the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain.

The data is now available in the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) Report.

For the third consecutive year, China remained the largest semiconductor equipment market in 2022 despite a 5 percent slowdown in the pace of investments in the region year over year, accounting for $28.3 billion in billings. [Read more…] about Global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales reach all-time record $108 billion