This is the greatest time ever for semiconductors, says CEO of key equipment supplier - CNBC

Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson stated on CNBC that the semiconductor industry is experiencing its strongest period ever, driven by surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and computing p... Read original →

The AI compute arms race is triggering a technical cascade across semiconductor equipment: sub-3nm nodes demand extreme precision in EUV and thin-film deposition, making Applied Materials’ process control modules critical yield bottlenecks. U.S. export controls have forced TSMC (Taiwan, China) and NVIDIA to reconfigure supply chains, extending equipment lead times by over 30% and spiking compliance costs. Competitors like Lam Research and KLA will accelerate alternative metrology and etch solutions to capture NVIDIA’s next-gen Blackwell Ultra orders. Over the next 18 months, equipment makers will shift from pure capacity scaling to localized redundancy—embedding dual-sourcing in new fabs across the U.S., Japan, and Europe. This infrastructure-driven supercycle won’t be derailed by short-term inventory swings; global capex for advanced packaging and High-NA EUV tools will sustain >25% CAGR through 2027.