Global chip market projected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030
The global semiconductor market is set to exceed $1 trillion annually by 2030-31, driven by growing demand for advanced chips in artificial intelligence data centers and rising prices of memory products, as outlined in a market analysis. Gaurav Gupta, Vice President and senior analyst at Gartner, provided insights at the Semicon Korea 2025 event, anticipating a significant surge in sales of high-bandwidth memory, a cutting-edge memory chip essential for AI applications, by over 60% this year. Last year witnessed a notable 18.1% growth in semiconductor revenue, predominantly attributed to the spike in memory prices and the escalating need for AI chips.
Gupta’s projections for this year suggest a 12.7% market growth, reaching $705 billion, driven not only by the sales of graphics processing units and AI processors but also analog semiconductors. The market volume is anticipated to expand to $829 billion by 2028. He highlighted that AI memory prices are expected to rise due to supply challenges, and the burgeoning automotive chip market, fueled by advanced driver-assistance systems and automotive high-performance computing, will further drive overall performance this year.
High-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, predominantly led by Korean giants SK hynix and Samsung Electronics, are poised for substantial growth this year, representing around 30.6% of DRAM revenue. Sales of HBM chips are projected to soar by 67% this year on a year-on-year basis, following an impressive annual revenue growth of 318.5% in the previous year. However, the growth is likely to decelerate from the following year due to the cyclical nature of the memory chip market, with growth rates anticipated to slow down to 22% in 2026, 8% in 2027, and 21.3% in 2028.
Semicon Korea 2025, a premier three-day annual semiconductor exhibition, commenced at Coex in Seoul, featuring a record-high attendance of 70,000 participants and 500 companies showcasing cutting-edge chip manufacturing technologies. Samsung Electronics Chief Technology Officer Song Jai-hyuk, in his keynote address, accentuated the pivotal role of semiconductors in propelling AI technology to bridge the gap with the human brain’s capabilities. He stated that while AI has made significant advancements over eight decades, it still has much to learn compared to the human brain’s 3.4 billion years of evolution.
Song underscored the indispensable role of semiconductors in enabling various key technologies of the post-AI era, such as autonomous vehicles, high-speed computing, quantum computing, humanoid robots, and biotechnology. He emphasized that AI chips will evolve to exhibit enhanced data detection capabilities and facilitate seamless connectivity with higher-value applications.
