Cloud Capital Spending Doubles Past $950 Billion

By Jonathan Custer | October 20, 2026

Nine leading cloud service providers’ capital spending is forecast at US$957 billion in 2026, up 106% from US$465 billion in 2025, according to TrendForce’s AI server industry research released 14 October 2026. The nine are Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, ByteDance, Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu. TrendForce forecasts US$1,531 billion in 2027, up 60%, revised upward from 50%, on higher system and component prices as well as volume. AI server shipments are forecast to rise 32.2% in 2026 and nearly 36% in 2027, and AI servers are expected to take 81.1% of server revenue in 2027.

SEMI expects 300mm fab equipment spending of US$149 billion in 2026, up 31%, according to its 300mm Fab Outlook. SEMI forecasts US$172 billion in 2027, US$193 billion in 2028 and US$227 billion in 2029, the last figure US$55 billion above its April forecast. Fab construction spending is forecast at US$47.5 billion in 2026 and US$63.3 billion in 2027, with 20 new 300mm fabs or lines starting construction in 2026 and 18 in 2027.

The contrast with consumer devices is visible on the same chart set. Omdia counted third-quarter PC shipments of 14.9 million for Lenovo, 10.3 million for HP, 7.6 million for Dell, 6.8 million for Apple and 5.4 million for Asus, with 13.1 million for all others. Omdia’s count differs from Gartner’s for the same quarter (Apple is 6.8 million here and 5.8 million in Gartner’s count), so the two trackers should not be compared number by number. TrendForce forecasts cloud capital spending at US$1,531 billion in 2027, so on its numbers cloud providers’ infrastructure spending keeps rising through 2027 while PC and phone volumes remain well below prior-year levels.

Cloud and fab spending are on a multi-year upward path. If AI server shipments do not grow 32% in 2026 while component prices stay elevated, the revenue forecast rests on price, not volume.

Sources: TrendForce, AI server industry research, 14 October 2026; SEMI, 300mm Fab Outlook; Omdia.

Prepared by Custer Contexo Group | Market Intelligence | October 20, 2026