SEMI announced at SEMICON West 2024 that global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment by original equipment manufacturers are forecasted to reach an industry record of $109 billion in 2024, marking a 3.4% year-on-year growth. This momentum is expected to continue into 2025, with sales projected to reach $128 billion, fueled by both front-end and back-end segments.
Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO, highlighted the semiconductor industry’s strong fundamentals and growth potential, driven by emerging applications from the Artificial Intelligence wave. The wafer fab equipment segment, including wafer processing and fab facilities, is set to grow by 2.8% to $98 billion in 2024, propelled by investments in China and demand for DRAM and HBM. By 2025, this segment is expected to expand by 14.7%, reaching $113 billion due to increased demand for advanced logic and memory applications.
The back-end equipment segment is anticipated to recover in the second half of 2024 after two years of contraction. Sales of semiconductor test equipment are forecasted to rise by 7.4% to $6.7 billion, while assembly and packaging equipment sales are expected to grow by 10.0% to $4.4 billion. This growth is projected to accelerate in 2025, with test equipment sales surging by 30.3% and assembly and packaging sales increasing by 34.9%, supported by the rising complexity of semiconductor devices and recovery in automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics markets.
Regionally, China, Taiwan, and Korea are expected to remain the top destinations for equipment spending through 2025. China’s equipment purchases are projected to exceed $35 billion in 2024, maintaining its lead, although a contraction is expected in 2025 following substantial investments in previous years.
