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<\/p>\nAccording to the latest equipment market forecast from SEMI, the global association representing the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain, worldwide sales of semiconductor fabrication equipment are on track to reach yet another all-time high in 2026. The upswing is being driven by three reinforcing forces: the build-out of artificial-intelligence compute infrastructure, the capacity ramp of leading-edge process nodes, and a broad recovery in mature-node demand. While lithography, etch and thin-film deposition continue to draw most of the headlines, wafer cleaning and spin-drying equipment are quietly emerging as a meaningful incremental demand pocket as fabs around the world push forward with capacity expansion.<\/p>\n
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SEMI’s data indicate that fab-level equipment spending has rebounded sharply from the previous industry trough and is expected to exceed prior peaks once again in 2026. What distinguishes this cycle is the simultaneous expansion at both ends of the process spectrum. On one side, high-spec fabs for memory and advanced logic impose ever-tighter requirements on particle control and metallic contamination management. On the other side, a wave of new 300-millimeter mature-node fabs is coming online, and each additional fab multiplies the number of cleaning steps required across the flow. Cleaning is not a single station; it recurs before and after nearly every process step, which means cleaning and drying tools account for a surprisingly large share of the tool count on a modern line.<\/p>\n
As localization of the core process tools advances, the domestic substitution of wafer cleaning equipment is also gathering pace. In the early years, domestic fabs relied heavily on a small number of overseas brands for cleaning systems. Today, however, local suppliers have built credible capabilities in single-wafer cleaning, batch cleaning, two-fluid cleaning and spin-rinse-dry. Shorter lead times, faster on-site service and a competitive cost structure are lifting the win rate of domestic tools in new fab tenders. The acceptance curve is especially steep in advanced packaging, power devices and compound-semi fabs, where domestic cleaning and drying systems are moving from being a supplementary option to becoming a mainstream selection.<\/p>\n
The more fabs that are built, the higher the bar for cleaning and drying tools in terms of stability, batch-to-batch consistency and serviceability. Hebei Zhongke Microelectronics Co., Ltd., based in Fuxing District, Handan City, Hebei Province, has long focused on the research and manufacture of mid-end and back-end wafer cleaning, drying and inspection equipment. Its product portfolio includes fully automatic single-wafer cleaning machines, the single-wafer cleaning & spin dryer SG-8-12-2D, two-fluid wafer cleaning machines, EFEM cleaning & drying systems, wafer unloading tables and wafer inspection lamps. As fabs expand and the global equipment market hits new highs, the company is positioning its reliable platforms and rapid response capability to capture domestic-substitution orders in the cleaning, drying and inspection segments.<\/p>\n
In the popular narrative, semiconductor equipment is often reduced to a handful of flagship tools, but the reality on the fab floor is very different. A modern process flow may include dozens of individual cleaning steps between film deposition, lithography, implantation and etching, and each one must remove particles, residues and trace contamination without damaging delicate features. As line widths shrink, the tolerated defect budget shrinks as well, which is why even a small improvement in cleaning consistency can translate into meaningful yield gains. Fabs are therefore spending not only on the headline tools but on the supporting equipment that keeps yield stable at high throughput. This quiet layer of investment is precisely where domestic suppliers have the best chance to compete, because the technology gap in cleaning and drying is narrower than in lithography, validation cycles are shorter, and service proximity matters enormously to fab operations teams.<\/p>\n
Looking at the competitive dynamic, overseas vendors have long dominated the high-end cleaning segment, but their advantage is being eroded on two fronts. First, domestic fabs increasingly prefer suppliers who can ship quickly and respond within hours when a tool needs attention, and local manufacturers naturally win on both lead time and service. Second, the explosive growth of new fab projects in China means there is simply more new equipment being purchased than the incumbents can easily absorb alone. The result is a gradual but steady shift in procurement decisions toward domestic platforms, particularly in mature-node and specialty fabs where the process window is well understood. For buyers, the calculus is no longer purely about technical specifications; it is about total cost of ownership, supply security and the ability to co-develop recipes as new processes mature.<\/p>\n
The strategic implication is that the cleaning and drying segment is no longer a footnote in the equipment story. It is a volume business that scales with every new wafer starts, and it is one of the few segments where domestic substitution can move quickly without crossing the hardest export-control barriers. As the global equipment market extends its record run, fabs and supporting suppliers alike are reallocating attention and capital toward these high-frequency, reliability-sensitive steps. Companies that can offer proven single-wafer cleaning, effective spin drying and convenient inspection in one coherent platform are well positioned to capture a disproportionate share of the new demand.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, the equipment upcycle is expected to remain intact through the forecast horizon, supported by multi-year fab commitments rather than short-term restocking. The composition of spending will continue to shift toward tools that enable higher yield at smaller geometries, and cleaning systems that can handle increasingly delicate structures without damage will see rising demand. For the domestic supply chain, the strategic priority is to convert this favorable cycle into permanent share gains by investing in reliability engineering and local service networks. Companies that treat the current expansion as a marathon rather than a sprint, and that continuously refine their platforms based on real fab feedback, are the ones most likely to emerge as durable suppliers in the post-expansion market. The record equipment spending, in the end, is only a means to an end: the real prize is a domestic supporting equipment base that can stand on its own technical merits.<\/p>\n
To learn more about the specifications, process compatibility and lead times of fully automatic single-wafer cleaning machines and single-wafer cleaning & spin dryers, please contact the industry hotline: 17177768881.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Driven by AI capacity expansion, advanced-node ramp-up and recovering mature-node demand, SEMI projects global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales will climb to a fresh record in 2026. Beyond lithography and etch, wafer cleaning and spin-drying systems are emerging as a quiet but important growth pocket as fabs worldwide expand, raise the bar on contamination control and yield, and increasingly favor reliable domestic supporting equipment suppliers who can deliver rapid local service and strong long-term support. This dynamic positions local cleaning, spin-drying and inspection equipment suppliers as key beneficiaries of the record fab capital spending cycle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_zk_news_lang":"en","_zk_news_en_title":"","_zk_news_en_content":"","_zk_news_en_excerpt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-xingye-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zkmsemi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zkmsemi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zkmsemi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zkmsemi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zkmsemi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zkmsemi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zkmsemi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zkmsemi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zkmsemi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}