Semiconductor Front-End Equipment Market Size, Share, Opportunities, COVID-19 Impact, And Trends By Equipment Type (Lithography Equipment, Etching Equipment, Wafer Fabrication Equipment, Others), By Application (Analog Switches, Amplifiers, Digital Circuits, Phase Shift Oscillator, Others), By End-User (Automotive, Consumer Electronics, IT And Communications, Others) And By Geography - Forecasts From 2023 To 2028

The semiconductor front-end equipment market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.32% to reach US$102.015 billion in 2028 from US$81.18 billion in 2021.

Market Overview:

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment is the apparatus used to create various electrical and integrated circuits (ICs). The most often used semiconductor production equipment is the front end. Front-end equipment includes silicon wafer manufacture, photolithography, deposition, etching, ion implantation, and mechanical polishing. Among their many benefits are streamlined production, enhanced output and dependability, a decrease in design and manufacturing errors, and improved worker safety. Growing demand for semiconductor fabrication facilities, a thriving semiconductor industry, rising demand for semiconductor components in electric and hybrid vehicles, and soaring demand for AI chips fueled by upcoming workloads and applications driven by AI are the main factors driving the market for semiconductor front-end manufacturing equipment.

The market will increase at an exponential rate due to the introduction of new front-end equipment facilities.

According to SEMI's quarterly World Fab Forecast study, global semiconductor equipment investment for front-end facilities is anticipated to increase by 18% YOY to an all-time high of $107 billion in 2022, marking the third straight year of growth after a 42% increase in 2021. This noteworthy accomplishment is a testament to the persistent drive to increase and enhance capacity to suit a wide range of markets and develop applications, reiterating expectations for long-term industry growth to allow electronics for the digital world. For instance, A deal was reached between Samsung Electronics and ASML in June 2022 to launch EUV lithography equipment and high-numerical-aperture (NA) EUV lithography equipment the following year. Intel said earlier this year that it had secured a deal to buy five of these pieces of machinery and would use them to start making 1.8-nm chips in 2025. Additionally, TSMC also said that it would use high-NA EUV lithography equipment in its process for the first time in the world in 2024 at the Silicon Valley Technology Symposium in the United States in June 2022. In comparison to current EUV lithography equipment, next-generation high-NA EUV lithography equipment can engrave finer circuits. The outcome of a competitive technological competition in the electronics business is viewed as a game changer.

By equipment type, the wafer fabrication segment will have significant growth over the forecasted period.

An expanding semiconductor industry, a rising need for semiconductor fabrication facilities, and investments in wafer fabrication facilities all over the world are what are driving the wafer fabrication equipment market for semiconductor front-end production equipment. For instance, Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation announced in February 2022 that its main discrete semiconductor production plant would receive a new 300-millimetre wafer fabrication facility for power semiconductors. Toshiba has so far accelerated the commencement of production on 300-millimetre lines and increased production capacity on 200-millimetre lines to keep up with demand growth. Market trends will be taken into consideration when making decisions on the new fab's overall capacity and equipment investment, the start of production, production capacity, and production schedule. Additionally, in May 2022, Texas Instruments opened new 300-mm semiconductor wafer production facilities in Sherman, Texas. Tens of millions of analog and embedded processing chips, which are used in all types of electronics, will be produced every day at the new fabs. The historic investment might eventually generate $30 billion and up to 3,000 jobs. To accommodate the anticipated increase of semiconductors in electronics, the company's newest 300-millimetre wafer fab began production in September 2022 and will build up over the following months.

Key Developments: 

• July 2021: Nexperia announced the formation of ITEC, its semiconductor equipment manufacturing branch, as a completely autonomous entity in July 2021. Based on deep learning technology, the company also offers smart vision inspection systems for semiconductor front-end and back-end manufacturing. ITEC offers industrial automation and smart manufacturing solutions that include scheduling, optimization, traceability, and analytical capabilities through the use of 'Big Data analytics and machine learning.
• June 2021: The EVG Step-and-Repeat (S&R) Mastering Shop, a new service offering to help customers accelerate the deployment of nanoimprint lithography (NIL) in high-volume manufacturing, has been established by EV Group. The EVG S&R Mastering ShopTM provides contract manufacturing of large-area master templates and stamps, which are utilized to produce working stamps for wafer-level and panel-level NIL processing, using EVG's equipment and cleanroom facilities.

Investing in semiconductor manufacturing facilities in India will cause Asia Pacific to grow at the fastest rate.

The majority of semiconductor foundries worldwide are located in the Asia-Pacific area, which is home to well-known firms like TSMC, Samsung Electronics, etc. India's market share in the production of electronic systems has grown dramatically in recent years. The popularity of electronic goods is accelerating due to technological advancements like the introduction of 5G networks and the Internet of Things. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology unveiled the plan for setting up Semiconductor Fabs in India in December 2021 to draw significant investments for setting up semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities within the nation to strengthen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem. Up to 50% of the project's cost is included in the financial help provided. In keeping with the National Policy on Electronics 2019 (NPE 2019), which aims to establish India as a hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) and strengthen the industry's ability to compete internationally, this is being done. The semiconductor front-end equipment market is predicted to benefit significantly from this.

Semiconductor Front-End Equipment Market Scope:

Segmentation:

• By Equipment Type
  • Lithography Equipment
  • Etching Equipment
  • Wafer Fabrication Equipment
  • Others
• By Application
  • Analog Switches
  • Amplifiers
  • Digital Circuits
  • Phase Shift Oscillator
  • Others
• By End-User
  • Automotive
  • Consumer Electronics
  • IT and Communications
  • Others
• By Geography
  • North America
    • USA
    • Canada
    • Mexico
  • South America
    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Others
  • Europe
    • UK
    • Germany
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • Others
  • Middle East and Africa
    • Saudi Arabia
    • UAE
    • Others
  • Asia Pacific
    • China
    • Japan
    • India
    • South Korea
    • Australia
    • Others