Semico’s 2011 Fab Database: Expansions and Consolidations

Semiconductor revenues were flat in 2011 as the industry dealt with numerous challenges. These changes have impacted the status of semiconductor fabs worldwide: capacity, capex, wafer size, closures, launches, production ramps, technology node migration, and employee count.

Economic uncertainty in Europe and the United States has had a dampening effect on semiconductor demand. The devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011 proved challenging for a number of large manufacturers in the region. The flooding in Thailand caused problems in the semiconductor and electronics supply chains.

Semico's 2011 Fab Database study provides key information on changes that occurred in 2011, and what plans are in place for upcoming fab construction and closures in 2012-2013. Key issues addressed in this report are the development work occurring with 450mm and 3D production. A special section is devoted to DRAM and NAND fab trends. The report compares the number of fabs used by IDMs versus the number for foundries, and how many are used for major semiconductor categories including logic, memory, analog/discretes, LED and MEMS production.

The study includes a separate file containing the complete database. Semico's fab database includes 769 entries at the time of this report. Fabs that were planned, never built, and then cancelled were excluded from this report. The database includes fabs that are planned, under construction, installing tools, operating, closing and closed.