Pandemic drives rise in fab equipment spending

Global fab equipment spending will increase by 8 percent in 2020 and 13 percent in 2021, according to the World Fab Forecast report published by Semi. Soaring pandemic-inspired demand for chips that power everything from communications and IT infrastructures to personal computing, gaming and healthcare electronics is responsible for the rise, says the trade association. Rising demand for semiconductors for datacenter infrastructures and server storage, along with the buildup of safety stock as US-China trade tensions intensify, are also contributing to this year’s growth.