Semiconductor equipment sales to reach $100B in 2022

Continuing investments by device makers in secular growth drivers are fueling the expansion of both the front-end and back-end semiconductor equipment segments. The wafer fab equipment segment, which includes wafer processing, fab facilities, and mask/reticle equipment, is projected to surge 34% to a new industry record of USD 81.7 billion in 2021, followed by a 6% increase in 2022 to more than USD 86 billion. The foundry and logic segments, accounting for more than a half of total wafer fab equipment sales, will grow 39% year-over-year to reach USD 45.7 billion in 2021 on strong demand for leading-edge technologies powered by the digitisation of industries worldwide. The growth momentum is expected to continue in 2022 with the foundry and logic equipment investments rising another 8%. Robust demand for memory and storage are driving spending on NAND and DRAM manufacturing equipment. The DRAM equipment segment is expected to lead the expansion in 2021, surging 46% to surpass USD 14 billion. The NAND flash equipment market is projected to increase 13% in 2021 to USD 17.4 billion and 9% in 2022 to USD 18.9 billion, respectively. The assembly and packaging equipment segment is forecast to grow 56% to USD 6 billion in 2021, followed by a 6% increase in 2022, driven by advanced packaging applications. The semiconductor test equipment market is expected to grow 26% in 2021 to USD 7.6 billion and expand another 6% in 2022 on demand for 5G and high-performance computing (HPC) applications. Regionally, Korea, Taiwan and China are projected to remain the top three destinations for equipment spending in 2021, with Korea at the top on the strength of a robust memory recovery and strong investments in leading-edge logic and foundry. Equipment spending for all regions tracked are expected to grow in 2021.