February global chip sales stayed strong, topping both January and year-ago levels, said SIA CEO John Neuffer. Asia-Pacific (ex. Japan), Americas, and China led the growth. Full-year 2025 sales are on track for ~$1 trillion.
Regional breakdown – February YoY: Asia-Pacific +93.5%, Americas +59.2%, China +57.4%, Europe +42.3%. Japan was the only dip at -0.3%. All regions grew month-on-month in January.
Behind the surge: fab equipment spending is exploding. SEMI forecasts 300mm fab equipment spending to hit $133B (2026, +18%), $151B (2027, +14%), $155B (2028), $172B (2029).
Key drivers: AI chip demand (datacenter + edge) and regional supply chain localization. Logic investment – especially sub-2nm – leads the charge. Memory demand is also soaring, with HBM and NAND Flash fueled by AI training and inference.
Top investing regions: Taiwan, Korea, Americas, China, plus Japan, Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
ICgoodFind :Record sales + surging fab equipment spend = semiconductor supercycle. AI is the real rocket fuel.
