Global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment are on pace to reach a record $165.9 billion in 2026, a 23.2% jump from 2025, according to SEMI’s year-end forecast. The wafer fab equipment segment alone is projected to grow 23.1% to $143.9 billion, driven by aggressive capacity expansion for both leading-edge logic and memory.
Memory equipment investment is expected to surpass $50 billion for 300mm fabs, a historic high, as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron race to add high-bandwidth memory production lines for AI accelerators. Test equipment sales are forecast to rise 31% to $15.3 billion, while assembly and packaging equipment grow 18.6% to $6.7 billion as advanced packaging becomes critical for AI chip performance.
China remains the largest single market for equipment purchases, although US export controls have shifted the composition of Chinese spending toward mature-node and specialty gear. The equipment spending surge mirrors the broader semiconductor industry’s trajectory toward $1 trillion in annual sales, with AI infrastructure buildout as the primary catalyst.
