January 19, 2024 /SemiMedia/ -- The Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) recently stated that driven by new demands for artificial intelligence, Japan's semiconductor equipment sales are expected to soar 27% in the 2024 fiscal year starting in April this year, reaching 4.03 trillion yen (approximately US$27 billion).

The SEAJ, whose members include Tokyo Electronics, Advantest and Screen, said it expects that in addition to the recovery of wafer foundries and logic chip manufacturers, spending by memory chip manufacturers will recover significantly during the second half of fiscal 2023 ending in March this year. It is expected that the average annual compound growth rate will continue to remain at 10% by March 2026.

Toshiki Kawai, chairman of SEAJ and CEO of Tokyo Electronics, said new chips for generative AI and investments in AI-enabled servers will boost demand.

Reports indicate that Japanese chip equipment manufacturers' revenue in the 2023 fiscal year ending in March this year is expected to fall by 19%, slightly less than the 23% previously forecast in July last year, partly due to strong sales in the mainland Chinese market.