Jul. 22, 2025 –
Global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment are forecast to hit a new high of $125.5 billion in 2025, marking a 7.4% year-over-year increase, according to SEMI’s Mid-Year Total Semiconductor Equipment Forecast. Growth is expected to continue into 2026, with sales projected to reach $138.1 billion, fueled by strong demand in leading-edge logic, memory, and next-generation technology transitions.
The Wafer Fab Equipment (WFE) segment, which includes wafer processing, fab facilities, and mask/reticle equipment, is on track to rise 6.2% to $110.8 billion in 2025, surpassing earlier forecasts. Growth will be led by rising investments in foundry and memory applications, with further expansion to $122.1 billion in 2026 driven by AI-related capacity buildouts and advanced process migrations.
The back-end segment is also continuing its recovery. Semiconductor test equipment sales are forecast to surge 23.2% in 2025, reaching $9.3 billion, after strong gains in 2024. Assembly and packaging equipment is expected to grow 7.7% to $5.4 billion in 2025, with both segments extending their momentum into 2026. This expansion is propelled by rising device complexity and the performance demands of AI and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), although some weakness persists in the automotive, industrial, and consumer sectors.
Within WFE, foundry and logic applications are projected to grow 6.7% in 2025 to $64.8 billion, and another 6.6% in 2026, underpinned by demand for advanced nodes and ramp-ups in 2nm gate-all-around (GAA) production.
Memory-related investments are also bouncing back. NAND equipment is set to grow 42.5% in 2025 to $13.7 billion, following a modest rebound in 2024, and will reach $15.0 billion in 2026, supported by 3D NAND innovations. Meanwhile, DRAM equipment is forecast to grow 6.4% in 2025 and 12.1% in 2026, with strong demand for HBM used in AI.
Regionally, China, Taiwan, and Korea will remain top markets through 2026. China leads despite a pullback from its 2024 peak. While most regions are expected to boost spending, trade policy risks may temper overall growth.