Semiconductor Equipment Billings Hit Record $40.5 Billion in Q2 2026 as AI Buildout Accelerates
Global semiconductor equipment billings reached a record $40.53 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 23% year-over-year and 11% quarter-over-quarter, according to SEMI's Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) report published September 3.
The total marks the industry's second consecutive record quarter, the industry association said, driven by accelerating investment in fabrication capacity for AI computing infrastructure. Orders placed with equipment makers in the period cover the deposition, lithography, etching and testing systems that chip plants need to run advanced nodes and high-bandwidth memory production lines.
AI Infrastructure Spending Fuels Equipment Demand
"The second consecutive quarter of record semiconductor equipment billings reflects the industry's sustained investment in the advanced manufacturing capacity needed to support rising chip demand, particularly for AI infrastructure," said Ajit Manocha, SEMI President and CEO. "Growth across Asia, North America and Europe underscores the global nature of this demand and the critical role of semiconductor manufacturing in enabling the next wave of AI-driven innovation."
The WWSEMS report is compiled from data submitted by SEMI members and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ). It summarizes monthly billings across seven regions and more than 22 market segments, giving a near-real-time read on how much chipmakers are actually spending on production tools.
Growth is concentrated in equipment tied to leading-edge logic nodes for AI accelerators and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production. Separate SEMI forecasts released in July projected total semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales by original equipment manufacturers to reach $165.9 billion in 2026, up 23.2% year-on-year, with continued expansion through 2028 when sales are expected to hit $229.5 billion.
That trajectory would mark five consecutive years of growth as AI-driven demand reshapes where and how aggressively chipmakers invest. Back-end segments are growing faster than front-end ones as device architectures get more complex.
Memory and Logic Segments Lead Investment
The wafer fab equipment (WFE) segment, which includes wafer processing, mask/reticle, and fab facilities equipment, is projected to increase 23.1% to $143.9 billion in 2026 after posting a record $116.9 billion in 2025. The figure is an upward revision from SEMI's 2025 year-end forecast, reflecting stronger investment in advanced memory technologies, especially HBM-related DRAM, and leading-edge logic applications.
DRAM equipment sales are forecast to rise 39.0% to $38.8 billion in 2026, followed by 27.4% growth in 2027 and 15.0% growth in 2028, reaching $56.9 billion. NAND equipment sales are expected to grow 30.7% to $13.9 billion in 2026, then increase 31.1% in 2027 and 14.5% in 2028 to reach $20.8 billion, propelled by 3D NAND layer migration and investment in higher-density architectures.
Foundry and logic WFE sales are expected to increase 18.9% to $78.0 billion in 2026, fueled by advanced-node capacity buildouts for AI accelerators, high-performance computing, and premium mobile processors. The segment is forecast to grow 18.1% in 2027 and 13.6% in 2028, reaching $104.7 billion, as the industry advances toward high-volume manufacturing at the 2nm gate-all-around node.
The shift to gate-all-around transistor designs at 2nm requires new deposition and etch tooling, which lifts the average selling price of equipment purchased per wafer start. Fabs running both advanced logic and memory lines are ordering more tools per expansion phase than they did at previous nodes.
Back-End Equipment Sees Strong Expansion
AI-related semiconductor demand is also propelling expansion in back-end equipment. After surging 55.3% in 2025, semiconductor test equipment sales are projected to increase 31.0% to $15.3 billion in 2026. Assembly and packaging equipment sales, which increased 20.8% in 2025, are projected to rise 9.6% to $6.7 billion in 2026.
Growth is expected to continue through 2028, with test equipment reaching $20.8 billion and assembly and packaging equipment reaching $8.6 billion, supported by increasing device complexity, advanced and heterogeneous packaging adoption, and more rigorous performance and reliability requirements for AI and HBM devices.
Packaging has become a bottleneck in its own right as AI accelerators move to chiplet designs that rely on advanced interconnects. The equipment needed to build those packages, including hybrid bonding and silicon interposer tools, is a growing share of total spending, and supply constraints in advanced packaging capacity have pushed chipmakers to add tooling ahead of demand.
Regional Distribution Remains Concentrated
China, Taiwan and Korea are expected to remain the top three destinations for equipment spending through 2028. China is projected to maintain the leading position over the forecast period, though growth is expected to moderate in 2026 following elevated investment levels in recent years.
In Taiwan, spending is supported by leading-edge capacity builds for AI and high-performance computing at foundries like TSMC and other manufacturers raising prices in response to surging demand, including Samsung's recent 15% foundry price hike. Korea's equipment spending is propelled by advanced memory technologies, including HBM production expansions at major memory makers that must keep pace with accelerator demand from cloud providers.
Other regions tracked are expected to see equipment spending increase in 2027 and 2028, supported by regionalization efforts, government incentives and targeted specialty capacity expansions in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. The expansion of fabs outside traditional hubs means equipment makers are taking on more installation and service work in new geographies, and logistics into those sites is becoming a bigger part of the procurement cycle.
Five-Year Growth Trajectory
SEMI's mid-year forecast points to a higher equipment spending trajectory as chipmakers invest in the leading-edge logic, advanced memory, test and packaging capabilities required for the AI era. The stronger outlook reflects accelerating investment in AI infrastructure, leading-edge logic, advanced memory, and back-end technologies needed to support higher compute density, HBM-related investment, and increasingly complex device architectures.
"AI is accelerating demand for more powerful and efficient chips, increasing investment across the semiconductor capital equipment market," Manocha said. The organization's forecast is based on collective input from top equipment suppliers, the SEMI WWSEMS data collection program, and the industry-recognized SEMI World Fab Forecast database.
The Q2 2026 equipment billings milestone arrives as the broader semiconductor market generated $702 billion in revenue during the first half of 2026, more than doubling compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organization. Memory was the standout segment with 305% year-over-year growth, while logic increased 45%.
WSTS projects the global semiconductor market to reach $1.7 trillion in 2026, representing annual growth of about 108%, with another 29% expansion to roughly $2.1 trillion forecast for 2027. Equipment billings track that revenue growth with a lag, so the record order flow in the first half of 2026 points to continued fab construction and tool purchases well into 2027.
For chipmakers, the takeaway is that capacity remains scarce at the leading edge, and the tools to add more are booked months in advance. Equipment lead times, which stretched during the pandemic-era shortage, have normalized but still run long for the most advanced lithography and deposition systems. Order visibility for equipment makers remains strong through 2027 based on the current fab pipeline.