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200mm silicon wafers in short supply |
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Feb 15, 2006 at 05:04 PM |
 Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased by 6% in 2005, while revenues grew by 8 percent, according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG).
"2005 was a record year for wafer shipments and revenues, with strong
growth observed throughout the second half of the year" said Reijirou
Mori, chairman SEMI SMG and executive advisor to SUMCO Co., Ltd.
"Heading into 2006, wafer suppliers face many challenges between tight
raw material supply, rising energy costs and potential supply
constraints; a situation heightened by the recent demand of 200 mm
wafers exceeding current capacity."
Concern about polysilicon shortages originally surfaced at SEMICON West in July last year, though it was too early to gauge whether this would have an impact on IC production. MEMC in January stated it would increase polysilicon production due to both Solar and Semiconductor industry demand. Now SEMI SMG is highlighting that demand for 200mm wafers exceeds supply.
Prices for all wafer sizes could come under increased upward pressure as energy costs are also being cited by the group of wafer growers as one of its "challenges."
Silicon wafer area shipments in 2005 came in at 6,645 million square inches (MSI), up from the 6,262 million square inches shipped during 2004. Revenues grew to $7.9 billion from $7.3 billion posted in 2004. Fourth quarter silicon area shipments increased 4 percent from the prior quarter and were 23 percent above the fourth quarter 2004 shipments, according to SEMI SMG.
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