Global wafer equipment expenditure of nearly 100 billion US dollars: China and South Korea into chip manufacturing investment "double male"

According to Yonhap News Agency, a global industry association said that South Korea is expected to become the largest investor in chip manufacturing facilities this year.

The International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Organization (SEMI) is a global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain. It said South Korea is expected to rank first in fab equipment spending this year, followed by China.

The association said in its quarterly World Fab Forecast report that global fab equipment spending is expected to increase 10 percent from last year to a record high of $98 billion, marking the third consecutive year of growth.

Fab equipment spending increased 17% year-over-year in 2020 and 39% year-over-year in 2021.

Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of the association, said: "As chipmakers expand their capacity to meet the long-term demand for a variety of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, autonomous machines and quantum computing, the semiconductor equipment industry has experienced an unprecedented period of growth, with spending increasing in 6 of the last 7 years. ”

He added: "Capacity building has exceeded the strong demand for electronics that are critical to remote work and learning, telemedicine and other applications during the pandemic." ”

By industry, chip foundry is expected to account for 46% of total spending this year, up 13% from last year.

The memory industry came in second with 37 percent, with dynamic ram access memory spending expected to decline, while 3D NAND spending is expected to rise. 3D NAND is the stacking of memory chips on top of each other to increase storage density.

Last November, Samsung, the world's largest maker of memory chips, said it would spend $17 billion to build a new chip processing plant in Taylor, Texas, to expand its foundry operations and boost production amid a global chip shortage. Construction work will begin in the first half of this year and mass production will begin in the second half of 2024.

Two months ago, Two of Intel's factories in Arizona broke ground and is currently reviewing a site for its new semiconductor packaging plant. TSMC, for its part, is building a plant in Arizona and is said to be considering building more in the United States. (Compilation/Hong Man)

Source: Reference News Network