Global chip fabrication equipment spending will rise 8% in all of 2020, and rise again by 13% next year, according to SEMI, a trade group that developed its forecast based on more than 1,300 facilities.
There was a 9% decline in the sector in 2019, which means that 2020 will about equal the $60 billion in spending on fab equipment in 2018, SEMI reported Tuesday.
This year’s demand came from pandemic-inspired acquisitions of computers and servers that are used in a wide range of devices, from communications infrastructure to PCs and healthcare electronics, SEMI said. The 2020 results take into account declines in the first and third quarters, with increases in the second and fourth quarters.
Memory is the seeing the largest spending increase in 2020, growth by 16% to $26 billion compared to 2019. The largest spending surge will be for 3D NAND, up by 39%, while DRAM will see 4% growth in 2020 and then jump 39% in 2021.
The forecast takes into account 21 new fab construction projects starting in 2020, with China accounting for nine of the new projects, and 18 construction projects planned for next year with 10 in China. The Americas will see two projects in 2020 and four in 2021.
Analog spending will grow 48% in 2020, while Foundry will rise 12% and finish second to memory at $23 billion.
SEMI also reported on Tuesday that second quarter billings for semi manufacturing equipment jumped 26% over second quarter of 2019, reaching $16.8 billion That data is gathered from 80 global equipment companies.
Compared to the global improvement of 26% for the second quarter, North America saw a 3% decline, while Europe saw a 19% decline. Korea improved by 74%, finishing just behind China in total billings. China saw $4.59 billion in billings for second quarter, with Korea at $4.48 billion while North America reached $1.64 billion.
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