Semiconductor equipment spending for 2014 will reach US$43.98 billion, up 21% from the US$36.29 billion estimated for 2013, according to SEMI. The forecast indicates that 2014 will be the second-largest spending year ever, surpassed only by the US$47.7 billion spent in 2000.

　　Significant NAND flash fab investments by Samsung Electronics in China and Toshiba/Sandisk in Japan, and investments by Intel including its fabs in Ireland, are identified as key drivers of the IC-equipment spending growth.

　　"Continued strong demand by consumers for smartphones and tablet computers is driving chip manufacturers to expand capacity for memory, logic and wireless devices," said SEMI president and CEO Denny McGuirk in a statement. "To meet the pent-up demand for capacity, particularly for leading-edge devices, we expect capital spending to increase throughout the remainder of this year and continue through 2014 – to post one of the highest rates of global investment for semiconductor manufacturing ever."