Semiconductor industry on path to exceed $1tn this year

Semiconductor revenue surged 27% in Q1 2026 to $319 billion, the strongest quarterly growth since Omdia began tracking the sector in 2002. The memory market led the surge, rising over 80% sequentially from late 2025 to early 2026, with NAND and DRAM nearly doubling quarter-on-quarter. Analysts now expect total semiconductor revenue to top $700 billion in the first half of 2026, driven by ongoing AI demand and constrained memory supply. NAND revenue approached $48 billion as prices rose about 95% on sustained data-center demand. The overall market outside memory grew modestly, while memory chips continued to propel the industry, with projections for continued momentum into Q2 2026 and beyond, potentially pushing H1 2026 well above $700 billion.