Fab equipment spending predicted to increase 10 percent

Global fab equipment spending for front-end facilities is expected to rise 10 percent year-over-year in 2022, reaching a new all-time high of over 98 billion dollars, Semi reports. Marking a third consecutive year of growth, the spending increase in 2022 would follow a 39 percent jump in 2021 and 17 percent in 2020. The industry last saw three consecutive years of growth from 2016 to 2018, more than 20 years after logging a three-year run in the mid-1990s.

“The semiconductor equipment industry has enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth with increased spending in six of the past seven years, as chipmakers expand capacity to meet secular demand for a wide range of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, autonomous machines and quantum computing,” says Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of Semi. “The capacity buildout extends beyond the robust demand during the pandemic for electronics vital for remote work and learning, telehealth and other applications.”