China is projected to maintain its lead in investing in new computer chipmaking equipment in 2025, according to industry group SEMI. This investment is expected to surpass that of Taiwan and Korea despite a noticeable drop from previous years. The global spending on chip fabrication plant equipment is forecast to increase by 2% this year to reach $110 billion, driven by the demand for tools necessary for manufacturing chips for artificial intelligence applications.

SEMI anticipates a significant growth in chipmaking investment in 2026, with an expected 18% rise. China, being the largest consumer of chips, has been steadily expanding its chipmaking capacity, notably accelerated from mid-2023 onwards with government backing to reduce reliance on imported chips and counter U.S. restrictions.

Major chip equipment manufacturers like ASML are poised for strong sales in 2025, with projected revenues of $32-38 billion euros, ensuring a market share exceeding 25% in areas such as lithography. Companies such as Applied Materials, KLA, LAM Research, and Tokyo Electron are also key players in the industry. Notable Chinese equipment manufacturers like Naura, AMEC, and SiCarrier, an affiliate of Huawei, are experiencing rapid growth.

Despite a decline in Chinese spending to $38 billion in 2025 from $50 billion in 2024, it still overshadows Korea's spending at $21.5 billion, where firms like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are expanding memory chip capacity. Taiwan, home to TSMC, a leading foundry producing AI chips for companies like Nvidia, is expected to invest around $21 billion.

In other regions, the Americas and Japan are each projected to invest $14 billion in 2025, while Europe's investment is estimated at $9 billion, as per SEMI.