\n\tFollowing a substantial increase in semiconductor capital expenditures during the first half of this year, IC Insights Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz., raised its annual semiconductor capex forecast to a record high of $80.9 billion for 2017, a 20% increase from $67.3 billion in 2016. Previously, 2017 semiconductor capex was expected to grow 12% in 2017 to $75.6 billion.<\/p>\n
\n\tA little over half of 2017 capex spending is forecast for wafer foundries (28%) and upgrades for NAND flash memory (24%). With a projected 53% increase in 2017, the DRAM\/SRAM segment is expected to display the largest percentage growth in capital expenditures of the major product types this year. With DRAM prices surging since the third quarter of 2016, DRAM manufacturers are once again stepping up spending in this segment. Although the majority of this spending is for technology advancement, DRAM producer SK Hynix recently admitted that it can no longer keep up with demand by technology advancements alone, and needs to begin adding wafer start capacity.<\/p>\n