The Zhitong Finance App learned that in the context of strong demand for AI, downstream procurement efforts are increasing, and the delivery cycle of semiconductor equipment is rapidly being extended. According to convention, orders are discussed 6 to 12 months before the equipment is introduced, and now they are directly locked until 3 years later. According to reports, the five major equipment vendors of Applied Materials, Asmack, Fanlin, Tokyo Electronics, and Kelei have entered the final stage of the 2028 supply contract, and some have begun discussions on 2029. Some Korean equipment companies are also sorting out supply plans two to three years in advance for global customers.
TSMC has raised its capital expenditure for the full year of 2026 to US$60-64 billion, with a median increase of 51.6%, of which 70% to 80% is invested in advanced manufacturing processes and about 10% is invested in advanced packaging, testing and mask production; Micron has increased its long-term investment plan for new US plants from US$200 billion to US$250 billion due to the “unprecedented” demand for memory chips brought about by the expansion of AI infrastructure; SK Hynix's third quarter financial report shows that shipments of high-value products such as HBM4 have expanded, and has locked in more than 50% of production capacity from 2027 to 2028 order.
In its financial report for the third quarter of 2026 released in October, Asmack clearly stated that according to the current production capacity plan, equipment supply in 2027 and 2028 will not be able to fully meet customer needs, and the company is studying further expanding production capacity in 2028 on the basis of the announced 30% capacity increase. Asmack CEO Fu Keli said at the performance conference that customer demand for lithography equipment has extended beyond 2028, and some customers have begun to express their purchasing intentions from 2029 to 2030. In the longer term, customers have begun to inquire about equipment orders for 2030.
Industry insiders said that the current wave of semiconductor equipment that is mainly focused on the front-end is likely to spread to back-end processes. Currently, long order grabbing mainly focuses on front-end manufacturing equipment such as lithography, etching, and deposition. As global fabs continue to increase overall investment before and after, and competition to be the first to sign forward procurement contracts, it will soon spread to the field of back-end equipment such as testing and packaging, and the entire industry chain will enter a long-term order locking model.
SEMI expects global semiconductor equipment sales to reach US$165.9 billion in 2026, up 23.2% year on year; it is expected to reach US$229.5 billion in 2028, and storage-related equipment spending is expected to continue to expand at an accelerated pace.
Tianfeng Securities said that investment in AI infrastructure continues to be transferred to the wafer manufacturing process, and demand for semiconductor equipment may continue until 2027-2028, and demand for advanced process-related equipment and key components is expected to grow at the same time.
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Huahong Hongli (01347): In the third quarter of 2026, sales revenue reached US$987.1 million, up 19.9% year on year and 9.9% month on month. Sales revenue excluding Huali's micro-merger was US$803.4 million, exceeding the quarterly guideline of US$770 million to US$780 million. The gross profit margin was 24.6%, up 7.6 percentage points year on year and 4.7 percentage points month on month. Excluding Huali Micro Merger's gross profit margin of 19.9%, exceeding the quarterly guideline of 16% to 18%. Profit attributable to parent company owners was US$123.4 million, up 147.1% year on year and 77.7% month on month.
Shanghai Fudan (01385): The company's revenue for the third quarter of 2026 was 1,338 million yuan, up 12.90% year on year; net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 211 million yuan, up 54.63% year on year. Revenue for the first three quarters of 2026 was RMB 3,564 billion, up 17.84% year on year; net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was RMB 1,060 million, up 221.08% year on year.