IC Insights: Capital expenditures for the entire semiconductor industry are forecast to be around $146.6 billion in 2023, down 19% year-on-year

Memory chip manufacturers, including Micron and SK Hynix, have announced that they will reduce capital expenditures next year. This money is generally used for expansion and production, reflecting the downturn in the industry.

In fact, the entire semiconductor industry is not having a good time.

IC Insights, a statistical agency, recently released its latest research report, predicting that the capital expenditure of the entire industry will decline by 19% year-on-year to around $146.6 billion next year. It is reported that this is the largest decline since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, when the decline was as high as 40%.

In contrast, semiconductor capital expenditures have seen rapid growth in the past year, increasing 35% to US$153.1 billion in 2021, and are expected to grow 19% to US$181.7 billion this year, a record high.

Of course, given the current size of the semiconductor industry, the total scale of US$146.6 billion still exceeds that of 2020.

However, there is no need to be too pessimistic. As the curve in the chart shows an upward trend, the outside world and manufacturers generally believe that the chip industry will usher in the next round of rapid growth in 2024-2025.

Zikuai Technology