In Q4 2024, installed wafer fab capacity was a record 42 million wafers per quarter  (in 300mm wafer equivalent), and capacity is projected to reach nearly 42.7 million wpq  in Q1 2025, according to a joint report from SEMI and TechInsights.

After declining in H1, the electronics industry’s total sales came back in H2 growing 4% y-o-y in Q4, and are expected to see a 1% y-o-y increase in Q1 2025.

IC sales rose by 29% YoY in Q4 2024 and continued growth is expected in Q1 2025 with a 23% increase YoY.

Semiconductor capex fell in H1 but saw a strong rebound, particularly in Q4, resulting in 3% annual growth by the end of 2024.

 

Memory-related CapEx continued to lead the growth surging 53% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 56% YoY in Q4 2024.

Non-memory CapEx also edged up in Q4 2024 showing 19% QoQ and 17% YoY improvement.

Total CapEx is expected to remain strong in Q1 2025, growing 16% y-o-y on the strength of investments to support HBM capacity additions.

Wafer fab equipment (WFE) spending increased 14% YoY and 8% QoQ in Q4 2024. Quarterly WFE billings are expected to be around $26 billion in Q1 2025.

China’s investment in WFE  started to subside by end of the year.

Back-end equipment showed strong increases in Q4 2024 with the Test segment logging 5% QoQ growth and an impressive 55% YoY increase for the quarter, while the Assembly and Packaging segment experienced a YoY increase of 15%.

Both segments are expected to show similar QoQ growth between 6-8% in Q1 2025.

Foundry and Logic-related capacity continues to show stronger increases, growing 2.3% QoQ in Q4 2024, and the segment is projected to rise 2.1% in Q1 2025 driven by capacity expansion for advanced nodes.

Memory capacity increased 1.1% in Q4 2024 and is forecasted to remain at the same level in Q1 2025 driven by strong demand for HBM.