Global semiconductor sales are on track to hit $1 trillion dollars as early as 2030, analysts reported at the annual Semicon West trade show in San Francisco earlier this month. In agreement were Needham & Co’s Charles Shi and Gartner’s Gaurav Gupta, with Gupta pegging the milestone closer to 2031 to 2032.

Gupta also projects double digit growth for 2024 and 2025, with semiconductor capacity up more than 50% by the end of the decade.

From AI and automotive to the rise of smart spaces and commercial drones, chips are expected to remain in high demand as the forces of autonomy, labor, power and geopolitics shape what’s to come.

With a gap of one million skilled workers needed to staff the more than 70 foundries expected to go live over the next few years, SEMI’s Christian Gregor Dieseldorf sees the coming labor shortage as a ticking time bomb.

Accenture’s Elias Eliadis feels AI can play a key role. He reported that fully autonomous smart fabs powered by generative AI that can operate with minimal human intervention are in the works. And Gupta expects human engagement with robots to jump to 80% over the next five years, which could drive foundry productivity.

As countries around the world race to bolster national security and build for economic prosperity, Dieseldorf said billions have already flowed into homeshoring chip manufacturing across China, Japan, India, Spain, Germany, UK, Singapore, Taiwan, Italy, Korea and Malaysia. And despite the US deploying $52 billion from the US CHIPS Act to bring chip production on shore, it might be too little too late for America to gain more than its current 10% market share.

Recipients of funding to date include Intel, TSMC, Samsung, Micron, GlobalFoundries, Microchip Technology, Polar Semiconductor, BAE Systems, GlobalWafers, Rogue Valley Microdevices, Entegris, and Absolics with plans to construct plants across Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Ohio and Texas.

By: DocMemory
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