Wafer Demand up over 10% in 2017 Despite Higher Wafer Prices, Says Semico Research

The continuation of new product development in the IoT category such as automotive, industrial and home automation has helped boost semiconductor unit sales in 2017.  Industrial applications including agriculture are also expected to grow as their semiconductor usage continues to increase.  This expansion ultimately leads to greater wafer demand.  A new report from Semico Research,  Semico Wafer Demand: Q4 2017 Highlights (MA113-17), reports that wafer demand increased over 10% in 2017.
 
"Looming over the growth in wafer demand are the increasing silicon wafer prices.  Tight supply is being seen for both 300mm as well as 200mm wafers," says Joanne Itow, Managing Director Manufacturing for Semico.  "This situation is forcing manufacturers to improve productivity and be more efficient with both advanced and mature manufacturing processes as the rollout of new technologies such as 10nm have begun ramping up." 
 
Key findings include:

• Total wafer demand in 2017 is expected to reach 114.6 million 300mm wafer equivalents.
• The DRAM market will close out 2017 with a greater than 70% increase in revenues and a 2.8% decline in units.
•  A 13% increase in unit sales as well as higher ASPs for memory products are the primary factors driving the growth in revenues last year.
• Advanced logic manufacturers rolled out volume production on 10nm production in 2017. 

Semico Research's report, Semico Wafer Demand: Q4 2017 Highlights, (MA113-17)  includes an Excel spreadsheet which provides wafer demand by 18 product categories and 14 technology nodes over a 10-year time frame from 2010 to 2020.  There is also a summary write-up which provides insight into the recent changes compared to the previous quarter. 
 
Other data contained in the report:

• Wafer demand by product (memory, logic, discrete/opto/sensor)
• Wafer demand by wafer size
• Silicon wafer shipments and revenues

For pricing and additional information, please contact:
Rick Vogelei
Business Development
Phone: 602-997-0337
Email: rickv@semico.com
 
About Semico
Semico is a semiconductor marketing & consulting research company located in Phoenix, Arizona.  We offer custom consulting, portfolio packages, individual market research studies and premier industry conferences.