Semiconductor Equipment Lead Times Double Amid Surging AI and Advanced Process Demand

Lead times for critical semiconductor manufacturing equipment from major suppliers like Applied Materials, ASML, Lam Research, Tokyo Electron, and KLA have extended from six months to over a year, with some doubling. This is driven by massive fab construction demand for AI and advanced process technologies, prompting memory giants Samsung and SK Hynix to place early orders to secure capacity. This development signals significant bottlenecks in the global semiconductor supply chain and is expected to impact production schedules through 2027.