SEMI: Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Sales Reached Record High of $135.1 Billion in 2025
The International Semiconductor Industry Association (SEMI) reported that global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales reached a record high of $135.1 billion in 2025, marking a 15% increase. This growth was driven by the continuous expansion of advanced logic, memory, and AI-related production capacities. The front-end process equipment market showed robust growth, with wafer processing equipment sales increasing by 12% year-on-year, and other front-end equipment categories growing by 13%. In the back-end process equipment market, testing equipment sales surged by 55% and assembly and packaging equipment sales grew by 21%, driven by demand for AI devices and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Semiconductor equipment expenditures in 2025 were highly concentrated in Asia, with China, Taiwan, and South Korea collectively accounting for 79% of the global market. Taiwan's equipment expenditure significantly increased by 90% to $31.5 billion, reaching a new historical high, benefiting from AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) demand. China's equipment expenditure was $49.3 billion, a slight decrease of 0.5%, indicating continued investment in mature processes. South Korea's equipment expenditure grew by 26% to $25.8 billion, supported by HBM and DRAM investments.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 13, 2026 at 17:38
- 🔍 Collected: April 13, 2026 at 18:01 (23 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 13, 2026 at 18:36 (34 min after Collected)
SEMI's global marketing chief and Taiwan president, Terry Tsao, stated that the record sales in 2025 highlight the industry's unprecedented pace in expanding capacity due to AI acceleration, responding to increasing demand for advanced logic, advanced memory, and high-bandwidth architectures. The global semiconductor ecosystem is simultaneously expanding production capacity and technological capabilities, from wafer fab investments to rapid advancements in advanced packaging and testing, to support the next wave of innovation.
In 2025, the global front-end semiconductor equipment market showed robust growth, with wafer processing equipment sales increasing by 12% year-on-year, and other front-end equipment categories growing by 13%. This momentum stemmed from the continuous expansion of advanced logic and memory capacities, fueled by AI-related demand and ongoing advancements in process nodes and technology.
For the back-end equipment market, SEMI noted that testing equipment sales surged by 55% year-on-year, driven by increasing performance requirements and testing intensity for AI devices and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). The expanded adoption of advanced packaging technologies also led to a 21% growth in assembly and packaging equipment sales.
Regionally, semiconductor manufacturing equipment expenditures in 2025 were highly concentrated in Asia. China, Taiwan, and South Korea remained the top three markets for semiconductor equipment spending, collectively accounting for 79% of the global market, up from 74% in 2024.
China's equipment expenditure in 2025 reached $49.3 billion, a slight decrease of 0.5%, indicating continued investment by local chip manufacturers in mature processes and some advanced capacities.
Taiwan's equipment expenditure significantly increased by 90% to $31.5 billion, reaching a new historical high, benefiting from AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) demand. South Korea's equipment expenditure grew by 26% year-on-year to $25.8 billion, strongly supported by continuous investments in HBM and Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM).
In 2025, the global front-end semiconductor equipment market showed robust growth, with wafer processing equipment sales increasing by 12% year-on-year, and other front-end equipment categories growing by 13%. This momentum stemmed from the continuous expansion of advanced logic and memory capacities, fueled by AI-related demand and ongoing advancements in process nodes and technology.
For the back-end equipment market, SEMI noted that testing equipment sales surged by 55% year-on-year, driven by increasing performance requirements and testing intensity for AI devices and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). The expanded adoption of advanced packaging technologies also led to a 21% growth in assembly and packaging equipment sales.
Regionally, semiconductor manufacturing equipment expenditures in 2025 were highly concentrated in Asia. China, Taiwan, and South Korea remained the top three markets for semiconductor equipment spending, collectively accounting for 79% of the global market, up from 74% in 2024.
China's equipment expenditure in 2025 reached $49.3 billion, a slight decrease of 0.5%, indicating continued investment by local chip manufacturers in mature processes and some advanced capacities.
Taiwan's equipment expenditure significantly increased by 90% to $31.5 billion, reaching a new historical high, benefiting from AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) demand. South Korea's equipment expenditure grew by 26% year-on-year to $25.8 billion, strongly supported by continuous investments in HBM and Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM).