Total Semiconductor Equipment Sales To Reach $108.5 Bn In 2022: Report

A new report forecasts the global sales of total semiconductor manufacturing equipment by original equipment manufacturers to reach a new high of USD 108.5 billion in 2022, rising 5.9 per cent from the previous industry record of USD 102.5 billion in 2021

According to the report, the global total semiconductor manufacturing equipment market is expected to contract to USD 91.2 billion next year before rebounding in 2024 driven by both the front-end and back-end segments.

The wafer fab equipment segment, which includes wafer processing, fab facilities, and mask/reticle equipment, is projected to expand 8.3 per cent to a new industry record of USD 94.8 billion in 2022, followed by a 16.8 per cent contraction to USD 78.8 billion in 2023 before rebounding 17.2 per cent to USD 92.4 billion in 2024.

Equipment sales in the foundry and logic segment, accounting for more than half of total wafer fab equipment receipts, are expected to rise 16 per cent year-over-year to USD 53 billion in 2022 as demand for both leading-edge and mature nodes remains strong. 

Meanwhile, foundry and logic investments are projected to decrease in 2023, leading to an expected 9 per cent drop in sales across the segment.

As enterprise and consumer demand for memory and storage weakens, DRAM equipment sales are expected to fall 10 per cent to USD 14.3 billion in 2022 and 25 per cent to USD 10.8 billion in 2023, while NAND equipment sales are projected to drop 4 per cent to USD 19 billion in 2022 and 36 per cent to USD 12.2 billion in 2023.

"Record fab constructions have driven total semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales to cross the USD 100 billion mark for a second straight year," said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO.

But challenging macroeconomic and semiconductor industry conditions are expected to spark a decline in back-end equipment segment sales. After registering robust 30 per cent growth in 2021, semiconductor test equipment market sales are forecast to slip 2.6 per cent to USD 7.6 billion in 2022 and 7.3 per cent to USD 7.1 billion in 2023. 

Following an 87 per cent surge in 2021, assembly and packaging equipment sales are projected to drop by 14.9 per cent to USD 6.1 billion in 2022 and 13.3 per cent to USD 5.3 billion in 2023. Back-end equipment expenditures are expected to improve in 2024 with growth of 15.8 per cent and 24.1 per cent, respectively, in the test equipment and assembly and packaging equipment segments, according to the SEMI forecast.

"Emerging applications in multiple markets have set expectations for significant semiconductor industry growth this decade, which will necessitate further investments to expand production capacity," Manocha added.