US-based SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment Materials International) forecasts that global semiconductor capital equipment spending will grow 14% year-on-year in 2018 due to the expansion in China and South Korea, the United Daily News reported on June 13. In addition, 2019 is expected to be another growth year for the industry with 9% year-on-year growth. The industry will likely to enjoy four consecutive years of growth from 2016 to 2019, with South Korea and China leading this wave of growth. Over the years, Samsung and SK Hynix have made massive memory investments, especially Samsung, which has also increased investment in wafer foundry that put itself atop the global capital expenditure ranking. Taiwan’s foundries, which have plans to invest in advanced processes and production capacity to keep Taiwanese industry's capital spending growing steadily, have also made some key contribution to the growth.