North America led the world in wafer fab equipment (WFE) spending growth in the first quarter, up 50% year-on-year as multiple chip makers began paying for new fab equipment capacity in the U.S., according to one report. recorded an increase in cicada report. Meanwhile, Taiwan remained the world leader in WFE spending as TSMC continued to source cutting-edge tools for its own factories in the country.
SEMI announced this week that global semiconductor equipment spending in the first quarter of 2023 reached $26.8 billion, up 9% year over year. Taiwan topped the list with $6.93 billion, up 42% year-on-year. China followed with her $5.86 billion, down 23% year-on-year. South Korea came in third with $5.62 billion, up 9% from Q1 2022. The U.S. was a distant fourth with her $3.93 billion, but still a 50% year-over-year increase.
Several companies are currently building and equipping new factories in the United States, including Intel, Samsung Foundry, TSMC, and Texas Instruments. The renewed interest in building new factories in the United States was largely driven by his CHIPS and Science Act.
“Despite macroeconomic headwinds and a challenging industry environment, semiconductor equipment revenues were strong in the first quarter,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “Fundamentals remain sound for the long-term strategic investments needed to support key technological advances in AI, automotive and other growth applications.”
The SEMI figures were confirmed by US manufacturing construction spending data published by the US Census Bureau. Joey Politano from applicitas economicsattributes its rapid growth to CHIPS and the Infrastructure Act.
“The manufacturing construction boom in the US is so big that we need to keep the Y-axis up on this chart.” Politano wrote on Twitter:. “Computer/electronics manufacturing has historically increased thanks to the CHIPS Act, and transport equipment (i.e. automobiles/electric vehicles) has increased significantly due to the IRA.”
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In terms of specific states, Texas and Arizona are leading the way.
“The surge in new manufacturing construction in the United States is actually concentrated in the Texas region ($32 billion last year), the Western Mountains (especially Arizona, $30 billion last year) and the Rust Belt ($22 billion last year).” ” In another tweet, Politano wrote:.
