TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s semiconductor equipment spending ballooned 90% to a record NT$998.4 billion (US$31.5 billion) in 2025, helping push global sales of manufacturing gear to an all-time high of US$135.1 billion.
Industry group Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) reported in a press release Thursday that the surge helped push worldwide sales up 15% from US$117.1 billion in 2024.
The Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics report showed Asia dominating with 79% of the market. Taiwan, China, and South Korea accounted for the largest share, up from 74% the previous year.
China’s spending dipped 0.5% to US$49.3 billion but stayed near historic peaks, fueled by domestic chipmakers’ investments in mature and some advanced processes. South Korea climbed 26% to US$25.8 billion on strong high-bandwidth memory and DRAM investments.
“Taiwan's explosive growth underscores how AI is reshaping the industry at unprecedented speed,” SEMI Taiwan President Terry Tsao (曹世綸) was quoted as saying, adding that from wafer fabs to advanced packaging and testing, the ecosystem is scaling to meet demands for advanced logic and memory.
Elsewhere:
- Japan increased 22% to US$9.5 billion
- Europe fell 41% to US$2.9 billion on weak auto and industrial demand
- North America dropped 20% to US$10.9 billion
- Rest of world rose 25% to US$5.2 billion
The report aggregated monthly bookings and billings data from SEMI and Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan members. SEMI is a global association of more than 3,000 members that also runs expos such as Semicon Taiwan in Taipei.
