INDUSTRY NEWS

Big wafers, big growth

SOURCE: SEMI SMG; ILLUSTRATION BY JENNY FIELD

Shipments of 300-mm wafers are expected to increase 84% between 2003 and 2004, according to a recent industry survey. The consensus forecast of worldwide semiconductor silicon producers, released by the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG), estimates that 300-mm wafer-area shipments will grow from 2.658 billion sq cm (412 million sq in.) in 2003 to 4.896 billion sq cm (759 million sq in.) in 2004 (see chart above). The survey says that shipments should increase another 50% in 2005, with year-to-year growth moderating to 19% in 2006. The large-substrate sector will grow faster than the overall electronic-grade silicon market, reaching 20% of total shipments by 2006. The total wafer-area shipments are forecast to rise 15% in 2004 and another 8% in 2005, when the amount shipped is expected to be 41.141 billion sq cm (6.637 billion sq in.). (The SMG survey uses square inches as its measurement unit; the amounts have been converted to metric units for consistency.)

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