With investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and advanced logic semiconductors increasing, the global semiconductor equipment market is expected to grow to about 340 trillion won in 2028, setting an all-time high.
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), a global association for the electronics industry supply chain, said on the 21st that it expects this year's global semiconductor equipment revenue to rise 23.2% from a year earlier to $165.9 billion (about 244.752 trillion won).
SEMI projected total equipment revenue to increase to $201.2 billion (about 296.83 trillion won) in 2027 and $229.5 billion (about 338.581 trillion won) in 2028. That would mark five straight years of growth from $116.9 billion (about 172.4624 trillion won) in 2024. It said expansion of production capacity for AI infrastructure, advanced logic, next-generation memory, and test and packaging will drive growth.
Ajit Manocha, CEO of SEMI, said, "AI is accelerating demand for more powerful and efficient semiconductors and driving broader investment across the semiconductor equipment market," and added, "As chipmakers increase investment in advanced logic, next-generation memory, and test and packaging capabilities, equipment expenditure will track a higher growth path than before."
Revenue from wafer fab equipment—including wafer process tools and mask/reticle equipment, as well as fab facility equipment—is forecast to rise 23.1% from $116.9 billion (about 172.4624 trillion won) last year to $143.9 billion (about 212.2954 trillion won) this year. It is then expected to expand to $175.3 billion (about 258.6198 trillion won) in 2027 and $200.0 billion (about 295.0597 trillion won) in 2028.
By application, foundry and logic equipment revenue is projected to climb 18.9% this year from a year earlier to $78.0 billion (about 115.0733 trillion won) and then increase to $104.7 billion (about 154.4637 trillion won) in 2028. Expansion of advanced-process capacity for AI accelerators, high-performance computing (HPC), and premium mobile processors was cited as a key growth driver.
As chipmakers enter mass production with 2-nanometer (nm) Gate-All-Around (GAA) processes, related equipment investment is also expected to continue. GAA is a technology in which a transistor's gate is designed to wrap around four sides of the current-carrying channel to improve performance and power efficiency.
Memory equipment investment is also expected to expand on the back of HBM demand and the transition to advanced DRAM processes. DRAM equipment revenue is forecast to grow 39.0% this year from a year earlier to $38.8 billion (about 57.2416 trillion won) and rise to $56.9 billion (about 83.9445 trillion won) in 2028.
NAND equipment revenue is projected to increase 30.7% this year to $13.9 billion (about 20.5066 trillion won) and reach $20.8 billion (about 30.6862 trillion won) in 2028. Growth is attributed to higher layer counts in three-dimensional (3D) NAND and increased investment in high-density architectures.
The back-end equipment market also appears set to extend its growth. Test equipment revenue is expected to expand from $15.3 billion (about 22.5721 trillion won) this year, up 31.0%, to $20.8 billion (about 30.6862 trillion won) in 2028. Assembly and packaging equipment revenue is projected to rise from $6.7 billion (about 9.8845 trillion won) to $8.6 billion (about 12.6876 trillion won) over the same period.
SEMI said demand for inspection and packaging equipment will also increase as semiconductor device structures become more complex and advanced, heterogeneous integration packaging spreads. Tougher performance and reliability standards required for AI Semiconductor and HBM are another factor expanding related investment.
By region, China, Taiwan, and Korea are expected to maintain their positions as the world's three largest semiconductor equipment investment markets through 2028. China will remain the largest equipment market, while Taiwan is expected to focus investment on expanding advanced-process capacity for AI and HPC. Korea is projected to increase equipment investment centered on advanced memory technologies, including HBM.