SEMI-NET, a product / service matching service based on WEB EXHIBITION for semiconductors / MEMS / displays

silicon wafer

Published on 2020/11/05

Silicon wafer shipments declined from 2018 to 2019 in line with the semiconductor market. However, with the end of memory inventory adjustments and the start of 5G products, the market bottomed out in the 4th quarter of 2019 and is now on the rise. Despite uncertainties such as the corona crisis and trade disputes between the United States and China, the second quarter of 2020 has recovered to a level close to the peak of 2018.

1. Silicon Wafer Market to Accelerate Growth in 2020

Silicon wafer shipments (area) announced by SEMI expanded to 11.81 billion ft² in 2017, up 11.9% year-on-year to meet the growing demand for semiconductors. 2018 continued to expand to 12,541 million square feet. However, from the second half of the same year, semiconductor demand began to decline due to inventory adjustment of memory and sluggish smartphone growth. In 2019, silicon wafer shipments also declined, and continued to decline until the first quarter of 2020 (Figure 1). The quarter-on-quarter decline continued from Q4 2018 to Q1 2019. As a result, semiconductor shipments in 2019 fell by 6.9% year-on-year to US$11.677 billion.
However, the semiconductor market has recovered since the second half of 2019, and in addition to progress in inventory adjustment of memory such as DRAM and NAND flash memory, demand for 5G compatible products is expanding. Silicon wafer shipments also increased by 7.9% QoQ and 5.7% YoY in Q2 2020. The increase in demand in the first half of 2020 was also affected by the fact that semiconductor manufacturers increased their inventories of silicon wafers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the third quarter of 2020, although the growth pace slowed down by 0.5% compared to the previous quarter, it increased by 6.9% compared to the same period of the previous year, showing a stable movement.