South Korean media outlets have reported that the delivery lead times for key products from the world's five leading semiconductor manufacturing equipment suppliers—Applied Materials, ASML, Lam Research, Tokyo Electron, and KLA—have generally seen an increase of 50% to 100%. Equipment that once could be delivered within six months now necessitates a waiting period of up to one year. Local equipment manufacturers in South Korea are encountering similar challenges, with delivery times for certain equipment stretching to six to eight months, or even surpassing one year. Industry insiders have noted that even equipment manufacturers that have secured capacity in advance are currently operating at full throttle on their production lines. The prolonged equipment delivery times are poised to impact the production launch schedules of wafer fabs. Consequently, Samsung and SK Hynix are vigilantly monitoring equipment delivery statuses and contemplating placing orders well in advance. The current extension in equipment delivery times is primarily attributed to heightened demand fueled by investments in AI infrastructure, with countries and companies concurrently ramping up wafer fab expansions, resulting in a significant uptick in equipment orders.