Chip‑equipment sales hit record
Global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment reached an estimated $135 billion as AI demand keeps fabs buying tools and capacity, and SEMI expects another ~18% rise in fab‑equipment spending for 2026. (digitimes.com)
Chipmakers and their suppliers spent a record $135.1 billion on manufacturing equipment in 2025, the highest annual total the industry has recorded. (semi.org) SEMI said worldwide equipment sales rose 15% from $117.1 billion in 2024 to $135.1 billion in 2025. The trade group tied the increase to investment in advanced logic, memory, and capacity for artificial intelligence chips. (semi.org) Those tools are the machines that turn blank silicon wafers into chips: lithography systems that print circuit patterns, deposition tools that add thin films, and etch tools that carve features into the wafer. ASML, Applied Materials, and Lam Research are among the companies that sell that gear. (asml.com, lamresearch.com, appliedmaterials.com) The buying is still climbing. On April 1, 2026, SEMI said spending on 300 millimeter fab equipment is expected to rise 18% to $133 billion in 2026 and another 14% to $151 billion in 2027. (semi.org) SEMI said the 2026 increase reflects demand for artificial intelligence chips used in data centers and edge devices, along with government-backed efforts to build more local chip production. The group said that combination is pushing equipment investment past $150 billion for the first time in 2027. (semi.org) A 300 millimeter fab is a chip factory built around dinner-plate-sized wafers, the standard format for high-volume advanced chips. When SEMI forecasts 300 millimeter equipment spending, it is tracking the tools bought for the world’s biggest leading-edge factories, not every chip plant in operation. (semi.org, semi.org) The spending wave has been visible in company filings. ASML said in its 2025 annual report that artificial intelligence investment continued to gather momentum, while Applied Materials said high-performance, energy-efficient artificial intelligence computing remained the dominant driver of semiconductor innovation. (asml.com, appliedmaterials.com) Chip foundries are still planning around that demand. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. keeps publishing annual and quarterly reports as it expands advanced-node and packaging capacity for customers building artificial intelligence processors, the kind of long-cycle investment that feeds equipment orders years in advance. (tsmc.com, tsmc.com) The record says less about cheap chips than about expensive factories. A modern fab now needs more tools, more process steps, and more capital before a single wafer ships. (semi.org, lamresearch.com)
