AI Investment Booms: Global Semiconductor (Chip) Manufacturing Equipment Sales Expected to Reach Record High in 2025.
With strong investment in artificial intelligence, global semiconductor (chip) manufacturing equipment sales are projected to reach a record high in 2025. Sales are expected to continue growing and set new records over the next two years (2026-2027).
On December 16th, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) released its global chip equipment market forecast report at SEMICON Japan 2025. The report predicts that by the end of 2025, global chip equipment (new products) sales will increase by 13.7% year-on-year, reaching a record high of US$133 billion. Furthermore, sales are expected to continue growing over the next two years, reaching US$145 billion in 2026 and US$156 billion in 2027, continuously breaking historical records.
SEMI points out that the main driver of continued growth in chip equipment sales comes from investments in advanced logic, memory, and advanced packaging technologies related to artificial intelligence.
SEMI CEO Ajit Manocha stated, "Global chip equipment sales are strong, with both front-end and back-end processes expected to grow for the third consecutive year, and sales are projected to surpass $150 billion for the first time in 2027. Following our mid-year forecast released in July, we have raised our chip equipment sales forecast due to more active than expected investment in supporting AI demand."
SEMI projects global front-end manufacturing equipment (wafer fabrication equipment; WFE) sales to grow 11.0% year-over-year to $115.7 billion in 2025, up from the mid-year forecast of $110.8 billion and exceeding the 2024 forecast of $104 billion, setting a new record. The upward revision of the WFE sales forecast primarily reflects the unexpected surge in DRAM and HBM investment driven by AI computing demand, as well as the significant contribution from China's continued capacity expansion. Driven by growing demand for advanced logic and memory, global WFE sales are projected to grow 9.0% in 2026 and further increase by 7.3% in 2027, reaching $135.2 billion.
SEMI indicates that China, Taiwan, and South Korea are expected to remain the top three chip equipment purchasers by 2027. During the forecast period (up to 2027), China is projected to continue investing in mature processes and specific advanced nodes to maintain its leading position; however, growth is expected to slow after 2026, with sales gradually declining. In Taiwan, significant investment in expanding cutting-edge production capacity is expected to continue until 2025. In South Korea, substantial investments in advanced memory technologies, including HBM, will support equipment sales.
In other regions, investment is expected to increase in 2026 and 2027 due to government incentives, localization efforts, and increased production capacity for specialty products.
The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) released a report on December 2nd stating that, according to the latest forecast from the World Semiconductor Trade System (WSTS), investment in artificial intelligence data centers will be the main driver, propelling continued high-speed growth in demand for memory, GPUs, and other logic chips. Therefore, global semiconductor sales are projected to increase by 26.3% year-on-year to reach $975.46 billion by 2026, approaching the $1 trillion mark and marking a new record high for the third consecutive year.
Sales of Japanese semiconductor equipment continue to reach new highs.
Sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment in Japan remain strong, with October 2025 sales exceeding 400 billion yen for the 12th consecutive month, setting a new record for the same period. Boosted by this, shares of Japanese chip equipment companies surged today.
According to Yahoo Finance, as of 9:20 a.m. Taipei time on the 27th, Tokyo Electron (TEL) shares rose 2.60%, Advantest (a test equipment manufacturer) shares surged 4.34%, and Kokosai (a thin film deposition equipment manufacturer) shares rose 5.16%.
Data released by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) on the 26th showed that Japan's semiconductor equipment sales (including exports, a 3-month moving average) reached 413.876 billion yen in October 2025, a 7.3% increase compared to the same period last year, marking the 22nd consecutive month of growth. Monthly sales have exceeded 300 billion yen for 24 consecutive months and 400 billion yen for 12 consecutive months, setting a new record for that month.
Sales fell 2.5% compared to the previous month (September 2025), marking the second decline in three months.
From January to October 2025, sales of semiconductor equipment in Japan reached 4.214 trillion yen, a 17.5% increase compared to the same period last year, far exceeding the historical record of 3.586 trillion yen set in 2024.
Japan's global market share of semiconductor equipment (by sales revenue) has reached 30%, making it the world's second-largest market after the United States.
On October 31, Tokyo Telecom (TEL) announced its financial results, stating that due to better-than-expected performance, the company has raised its consolidated revenue target for fiscal year 2025 (April 2025 to March 2026) from ¥2.35 trillion in July to ¥2.38 trillion. The consolidated operating profit target has also been raised from ¥570 billion to ¥586 billion, and the consolidated net profit target from ¥444 billion to ¥488 billion.
On July 3, SEAJ released a forecast report indicating that due to strong demand for GPUs and HBMs from AI servers, Taiwan's advanced semiconductor foundry TSMC will begin mass production of 2nm chips, driving increased investment in 2nm technology. Furthermore, South Korea's investment in DRAM/HBM is also growing. Therefore, the forecast for Japanese semiconductor equipment sales (referring to the sales of Japanese companies both domestically and internationally) in fiscal year 2025 (April 2025 to March 2026) has been revised upwards from the previous estimate of 4.659 trillion yen to 4.8634 trillion yen, a 2.0% increase compared to fiscal year 2024, and is expected to reach a record high for the second consecutive year
Post time: Dec-22-2025