en.Wedoany.com Reported - The International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Initiative (SEMI) announced in its Mid-Year Global Semiconductor Equipment Forecast – OEM Perspective report that total global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are projected to reach a record $165.9 billion in 2026, a 23.2% year-over-year increase. The growth momentum is expected to continue through 2028, with total sales reaching $229.5 billion, marking five consecutive years of growth as AI-driven demand reshapes semiconductor manufacturing investments.
The stronger outlook reflects accelerated investments in AI infrastructure, leading-edge logic, advanced memory, and back-end technologies that support higher computing density, high-bandwidth memory (HBM)-related investments, and increasingly complex device architectures.
Ajit Manocha, President and CEO of SEMI, stated that AI is accelerating demand for more powerful and efficient chips, driving increased investment across the entire semiconductor capital equipment market. Chip manufacturers are investing in the leading-edge logic, advanced memory, test, and packaging capabilities required for the AI era.
By market segment, after record wafer fab equipment sales of $116.9 billion last year, the wafer fab equipment (WFE) segment—including wafer processing, mask/reticle, and fab facilities equipment—is expected to grow 23.1% in 2026 to $143.9 billion, a significant upward revision from SEMI's late 2025 forecast, reflecting increased investment in advanced memory (particularly HBM-related DRAM technology) and leading-edge logic applications. WFE sales are projected to grow 21.8% in 2027 and 14.1% in 2028, reaching $200 billion. Semiconductor test equipment sales, after surging 55.3% in 2025, are expected to grow 31.0% in 2026 to $15.3 billion. Assembly and packaging equipment sales, after growing 20.8% in 2025, are projected to grow 9.6% in 2026 to $6.7 billion, roughly in line with previous forecasts. Growth is expected to continue through 2028, with test equipment reaching $20.8 billion and assembly and packaging equipment reaching $8.6 billion.
By application, WFE sales for foundry and logic applications are expected to grow 18.9% year-over-year in 2026 to $78 billion, driven by capacity builds for advanced nodes for AI accelerators, high-performance computing, and high-end mobile processors. This segment is projected to grow 18.1% in 2027 and 13.6% in 2028, reaching $104.7 billion, as the industry moves toward high-volume manufacturing at the 2nm gate-all-around node.
Memory-related equipment spending is expected to expand significantly through 2028, supported by HBM demand, advanced DRAM node migration, and NAND technology transitions. DRAM equipment sales are projected to grow 39.0% in 2026 to $38.8 billion, followed by 27.4% growth in 2027 and 15.0% growth in 2028, reaching $56.9 billion. NAND equipment sales are expected to grow 30.7% in 2026 to $13.9 billion, followed by 31.1% growth in 2027 and 14.5% growth in 2028, reaching $20.8 billion, driven by 3D NAND layer migration and investment in higher-density architectures.
By region, the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, China, and South Korea are expected to remain the top three destinations for equipment spending through 2028. The Chinese mainland maintains its leading position during the forecast period, but growth is expected to slow in 2026 following high investment levels in recent years. Taiwan, China's spending is supported by leading-edge capacity builds for AI and high-performance computing, while South Korea's equipment spending is driven by advanced memory technologies, including HBM. Other tracked regions are expected to see increased equipment spending in 2027 and 2028, supported by regionalization efforts, government incentives, and specialty capacity expansion.
The forecast is based on collective input from top equipment suppliers, SEMI's Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) data collection program, and SEMI's Worldwide Fab Forecast database.
