The chip manufacturersdespite the fact that its demand has dropped, continue to invest in developing facilities to expand their manufacturing capacity in the future. With this they seek to prevent situations such as those caused by the shortage of chips in sectors such as electronics or the automotive industry from happening again. Therefore, according to the forecasts of the World Fab Forecast of the association of the electronics manufacturing and supply chain sector (SEMI), the semiconductor equipment sector has increased capacity this year and will grow again in 2023.
In 2022, the investment in equipment for the manufacture of semiconductors will grow by 9% year-on-year, and will reach a new record: 99,000 million dollars. Therefore, the sector continues to increase its manufacturing capacity despite the worsening global economic forecasts.
However, in its previous quarterly report, published in June, SEMI forecast that spending on chip-making equipment would reach $109 billion by the end of the year, so it appears that investment in increasing chip production capacity chips has cooled down somewhat. In addition, there are several experts who say that the semiconductor sector is headed for a bearish cycle and its biggest inventory correction in more than a decade.
According to SEMI, this year chip manufacturing capacity has increased by 8% globally. This increase follows that of 2021, which was 7.4%, and is the highest year-on-year growth rate experienced in the sector since 2010, when the industry exceeded 16 million wafers manufactured per month. The organization projects that the sector will arrive in 2023 monthly wafers in 2023, a year in which the year-on-year growth rate of the sector will be 5.3%.
In SEMI they also point out that the factory sector represents in 2022 the bulk of the investment in equipment for semiconductors: 53%. It will continue to do so in 2023, followed by memory manufacturing, with 32% of spending in 2022 and 33% projected for 2023. These two sectors will also see the largest capacity increases. By region, it is not surprising that Taiwan is the main investment in equipment manufacturing, with an increase in investment of 47% year-on-year, reaching 30,000 million. of dollars.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, investment in chip-making equipment is down 5.5% to $22.2 billion. In China it has also fallen: 11.7% year-on-year, to 22,000 million dollars.
In Europe and the Middle East, record investment data will be recorded in this sector. In 2022 there will be an increase in this field of 14% year-on-year, up to 6,600 million dollars. However, overall investment in the area remains lower than in other regions. All powered by high-performance computing and advanced technologies. The entire American continent and Southeast Asia will register record investments in the sector in 2023.
According to Ajit Manocha, President and CEO of SEMI«after reaching a record level in 2022, the global chipmaking equipment market is expected to remain healthy next year thanks to new factories and upgrading activity«.
