The global semiconductor market more than doubled in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier, driven by an extraordinary surge in memory demand amid continued investment in AI infrastructure, high-performance computing and advanced memory technologies.
According to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), worldwide semiconductor sales reached $702 billion in the first half of the year, equivalent to roughly 960 trillion KRW. That represented a 102% increase from the same period in 2025.
The six-month total was already close to the $795.6 billion global semiconductor market recorded for all of 2025. In other words, sales in the first half of 2026 alone amounted to about 88% of last year's full-year market.
Growth accelerated sharply in the second quarter. Data compiled by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) using WSTS statistics showed global semiconductor sales of $403.3 billion in the April-to-June period, up 35.1% from the first quarter. June sales alone reached $134.5 billion, up 123.6% from a year earlier and 9.7% from May.
By region, the Americas posted the fastest year-on-year increase in June, at 160.9%. Asia Pacific and other markets followed with 124.4%, followed by China at 112.8%, Europe at 75.2% and Japan at 39.0%.
WSTS said sustained investment in AI infrastructure, high-performance computing, or HPC, and advanced memory technology was behind the market's rapid expansion.
Memory was the standout product category. The memory-chip market expanded 305% year on year in the first half, while logic semiconductors grew 45%. Every other major product category also posted growth, indicating that the market expansion was not confined to a single segment.
Actual first-half results were stronger than WSTS had expected in its spring forecast, released in June. After replacing its projected second-quarter figures with actual results, WSTS calculated that the global semiconductor market could reach $1.655 trillion in 2026, or approximately 108% growth from 2025. That is 18 percentage points higher than the growth rate in its original spring forecast.
Memory is expected to remain the primary growth engine. Based on actual second-quarter results, WSTS now expects the memory market to grow 302% this year, 53 percentage points above its original spring projection. Every other major product segment except sensors was also revised higher.
For 2027, WSTS estimates the global semiconductor market will reach about $2.1 trillion, representing year-on-year growth of around 29%. The calculation substitutes actual second-quarter data for the previous forecast while keeping WSTS's June assumptions for growth from the third quarter onward.
