A wave of production expansion among major Chinese chipmakers this year has triggered rapid growth in domestic semiconductor equipment orders, underscoring robust momentum in the industry. Since the start of the year, Chinese major wafer manufacturers such as CXMT Corporation, Yangtze Memory Technologies, and Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor have all ramped up production, fueling an equipment procurement spree across the sector.
Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc (AMEC) began with a single etching device but now offers 54 types of equipment and has delivered over 8,800 reaction chambers for more than 220 production lines worldwide. In the first half of 2026, AMEC saw revenue surge nearly 35 percent from a year earlier. "In AI servers, memory chips account for the largest share. Whether it's etching or thin film equipment, especially in storage, our customers' demand is huge. It's the key driver behind our growth. While it used to take about six months for us to deliver, customers are now asking for even shorter lead time," said Cong Hai, senior vice president of AMEC.
In the past, wafer fabs sourced etching, thin film, and testing tools from separate suppliers. With AI chip manufacturing requiring over a hundred different processes, wafer fabs increasingly want more suppliers capable of providing integrated solutions that cover multiple stages. China's top equipment firms are thus rapidly transitioning from single-product suppliers to platform-based companies.
"Today's AI servers require products covering logic and memory chips, as well as advanced packaging. Our customers increasingly expect comprehensive solutions. In addition to high-end equipment, we are expanding to support advanced packaging and power devices. These are becoming new growth points," said Cong.
The boom is equally visible in testing and inspection equipment. Shenzhen-based SEICHITECH, a publicly listed semiconductor test equipment company, announced contracts totaling about 2.887 billion yuan (429.5 million U.S. dollars) for the year. The AI compute demand is quickly translating into sales growth.
"This year, we have signed two individual orders that each exceeds one billion yuan (149 million U.S. dollars). The revenue of memory chip test equipment grew 150 percent year on year in the first half year. Globally, demand for compute chip testing equipment could be two to three times larger than for memory testing," said Xie Siyao, board member of SEICHITECH.
Industry fundamentals remain robust. According to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, the global semiconductor equipment billings reached 40.53 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter of 2026, up 23 percent year on year and marking a second consecutive quarterly record high.
"Our analysts estimate that most A-share-listed semiconductor front-end equipment companies have seen order increases of over 60 to 70 percent this year. As chip manufacturing processes evolve, wafer fabs require increasingly stringent process controls, minimizing wafer exposure to air. Companies with platform integration capabilities able to streamline upstream and downstream processes will hold a crucial competitive edge," said Wang Haozhe, chief machinery industry analyst at Western Securities.
China's AI chip expansion fuels surge in semiconductor equipment orders
