The global semiconductor market is heading for a huge year. Gartner expects revenue to hit $1.555 trillion in 2026, up 92% from the $809 billion recorded in 2025. Memory drives most of that jump, pushed by the buildout of AI data centers, demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and a stronger price cycle than expected.
The semiconductor market in 20 seconds
- Gartner forecasts $1.555 trillion in semiconductor revenue for 2026.
- That’s year-over-year growth of 92%.
- Memory will generate about $837.3 billion, or 54% of the market.
- DRAM will grow 246.6%, and NAND Flash 371.9%.
- By 2027, Gartner projects a market near $1.94 trillion.
The numbers show how the race to build AI infrastructure is reshaping an industry that used to lean more on PCs, smartphones, and consumer electronics. Data centers now take a much bigger share of global chip demand.
Gartner puts the AI data center ecosystem at 36.5% of semiconductor revenue in 2026. By 2030, that share could top 53%. If the forecast holds, more than half the industry’s value by the end of the decade will tie back to this infrastructure.
Memory explains a big part of the growth
The 92% headline might suggest every category is climbing at the same pace, but Gartner’s projections show a far more uneven picture.
Memory is the main engine.
| Market | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memory | $220.1 billion | $837.3 billion | $1.076 trillion |
| Other semiconductors | $589 billion | $717.9 billion | $864.4 billion |
| Total | $809 billion | $1.555 trillion | $1.94 trillion |
Memory revenue is set to jump from $220.1 billion in 2025 to $837.3 billion in 2026, nearly quadrupling in a single year.
Its share of the total shifts sharply too. Memory made up roughly 27% of semiconductor revenue in 2025, and Gartner expects 54% in 2026.
Both higher demand and higher prices sit behind those numbers.
The firm forecasts DRAM revenue up 246.6% in 2026, with NAND Flash up 371.9%.
That doesn’t mean the number of chips sold multiplies by the same amounts. Gartner specifically names the upward memory price cycle as a key reason for the outsized revenue growth.
AI demand is also squeezing available capacity.
Accelerators that train and run large models need ever more HBM, while servers pack in large amounts of conventional DRAM and NAND storage.
So manufacturers have reason to steer capacity toward data center components and invest there, where each system is worth far more than many consumer products.
Gartner expects new production capacity to come online by 2027 but thinks the supply-demand balance will stay tight as AI infrastructure keeps consuming more.
AI no longer helps only GPUs and memory
The growth isn’t limited to NVIDIA, AMD accelerators, or the custom chips big cloud providers design.
Building larger clusters raises the need for other components at the same time.
Servers need CPUs to manage workloads, networking chips to connect thousands of accelerators, controllers, analog devices, power management systems, and optical interconnect technologies.
Gartner estimates the semiconductor market excluding memory will grow from $589 billion in 2025 to $717.9 billion in 2026.
That’s a 21.9% increase, sizable but far below memory’s growth.
By 2027, this segment could reach $864.4 billion.
The gap between the two segments points to a real shift. The AI infrastructure bottleneck isn’t only about getting enough GPUs.
Modern systems have to keep feeding those accelerators enormous amounts of data, which raises the value of memory bandwidth, GPU-to-GPU links, and the network tying servers and racks together.
As models grow and inference takes on longer contexts and autonomous systems, moving data efficiently can matter as much as adding raw compute.
A market that could near two trillion dollars in 2027
Gartner sees the growth running past this year.
Its 2027 forecast puts global semiconductor revenue at $1.9399 trillion, about 24.7% above the expected 2026 level.
Memory would again hold a large slice: $1.0755 trillion, against $864.4 billion for the rest of the market.
These numbers suggest something deeper than a spell of high prices.
Gartner notes the AI buildout is changing the makeup of global semiconductor demand. Data centers that mostly needed CPUs, memory, and standard storage now pack in large numbers of accelerators, HBM, high-speed networks, and specialized parts.
The economic value in each installation is rising too. Large AI clusters need thousands or tens of thousands of accelerators, plus heavy memory and communication infrastructure.
The projected 53% share for 2030 captures the shift better than this year’s 92% growth. If Gartner is right, the economic center of gravity for semiconductors will keep moving toward the infrastructure that trains, runs, and connects AI systems.
That also means the sector’s path depends more and more on how long hyperscalers, cloud providers, AI labs, and big corporations keep pouring money into data centers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much will the global semiconductor market generate in 2026?
Gartner forecasts $1.555 trillion, up from $809 billion in 2025, a growth of about 92%.
Why is memory revenue growing so fast?
High prices plus strong demand from AI infrastructure are lifting the market’s value. Gartner expects memory to make up 54% of all semiconductor revenue in 2026.
How much will DRAM and NAND Flash grow?
Per Gartner, DRAM revenue will rise 246.6% in 2026 and NAND Flash 371.9%.
Will the chip market keep growing in 2027?
Gartner’s forecast points to $1.9399 trillion in 2027, with a little over $1.075 trillion from memory.
via: gartner
