Chipmakers still shoveling cash into new fabs as demand slows

Investment in semiconductor fab equipment is set to grow 9 percent to a new global high of $99 billion by the end of 2022 as the industry continues to boost capacity despite the worsening global economic outlook. These figures come from the latest quarterly World Fab Forecast report published by SEMI, the industry association …

[MachDiamond]

Not for next week

Since fabs can take a long time to build and commission, companies have to be thinking years into the future. A more informative article would have information on why companies think it's a good idea to be investing in capital equipment that will come into use in 2025-2027. Is the fad with car makers to have an ever increasing supply of computer controlled features going to continue (god, I hope not)? Is the progression from large screen devices going to continue to go smaller than the smart watch and really tiny scale electronics need to get even more tiny?

I can't see how people will stare at a phone screen all day. My next round of monitor purchases for the desktop are going to be larger and I haven't ruled out going with more than two. Sucks to get old.

[Anonymous Coward]

Chip wars?

With Taiwan having such a huge share of the market, in the future could we see China and the US duke it out over this prize?