KUALA LUMPUR: Global spending on 300mm semiconductor fabrication equipment is projected to reach US$149bil in 2026, up 31% year-on-year, before rising to US$227bil by 2029, according to SEMI.
In its latest 300mm Fab Outlook report, the semiconductor industry association said equipment investment was expected to grow at double-digit rates through 2029, supported by continued expansion in global manufacturing capacity.
SEMI projected that 20 new 300mm fabrication plants (fabs) or production lines would begin construction worldwide in 2026, followed by 18 in 2027, excluding facilities dedicated solely to research and development.
In the United States, three are projected to begin construction in 2026 and four in 2027.
“Semiconductor demand is increasingly translating into physical manufacturing expansion across the global industry,” SEMI president and chief executive officer Ajit Manocha said in a statement.
“The latest outlook points to both stronger equipment investment and a substantial pipeline of fabs moving toward operation. This expansion will provide the manufacturing foundation needed to support AI, high-performance computing and a broad range of next-generation semiconductor applications.”
Global construction spending across 300mm facilities is projected to rise 23% to US$47.5bil in 2026 and another 33% to US$63.3bil in 2027, before reaching US$68.4bil in 2028.
The investments cover new manufacturing capacity for advanced logic chips, memory and other semiconductor technologies.
Meanwhile, equipment spending in the Americas is forecast to more than double from US$18.1bil in 2026 to US$40.6bil in 2029, reflecting the region's expanding semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
SEMI also projected that 13 new 300mm fabs or production lines worldwide would begin operations or produce their first silicon wafers in 2026, increasing to 23 in 2027.
The third-quarter 2026 edition of its 300mm Fab Outlook incorporated 166 changes across 163 fabs and production lines, including 14 newly added records, compared with the previous report.
