SAN FRANCISCO -- The semiconductor industry recovery will continue next year with revenues and unit shipments expected to grow at robust rates, says a new report from the SEMI trade group. 

Front-end fab equipment spending is expected to rise 21% this year to $34.9 billion, and 20% next year to $42 billion, SEMI said.

The record for front-end spending is $40 billion, set in 2011.

While almost all the spending is going toward development of 300mm fabs, yet spending on 200mm fabs is expected to rise 10% this year and 12% in 2015.  

Taiwan leads all regions in investment, at $9.7 billion, followed by the Americas ($7.8 billion), Korea ($6.8 billion), China ($4.6 billion) and Japan ($1.9 billion). SEMI forecasts Taiwan's spend will grow more than 20% to $12 billion in 2015, with major gains also seen in Korea ($8 billion), China ($5 billion) and Japan ($4.2 billion). The Americas will be roughly flat at $7.9 billion. Spending in Europe is expected to nearly double to $3.8 billion.

Most of the spend will be on equipment upgrades, not new capacity. SEMI expects a growth rate of less than 3% for new capacity, similar to 2011 and 2012. DRAM capacity, in particular, has been flaccid, and while higher investment is expected for that segment in 2014 and 2015, the rates are still negative until the end of 2015.  

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