Silicon wafer shipments grow for 6th consecutive year, SEMI says
Robust demand and the 300-mm ramp led to an overall strong 2007 for the silicon industry and it is expected that these drivers will fundamentally remain in place for 2008, according to the industry group.
By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- EDN, February 6, 2008
Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased by 8% in 2007 over 2006 area shipments as revenues grew by 21% in 2007 over 2006, as a result of 300-mm wafers contributing to an overall better product mix, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported in its year-end analysis of the silicon wafer industry.
2007 area shipments of silicon wafers totaled 8.661 billion square inches, up from 7.996 billion square inches shipped in 2006, SMG said, as revenues grew to $12.1 billion from $10 billion in 2006.
“Robust demand and the 300-mm ramp led to an overall strong year for the silicon industry," Kazuyo Heinink, chairwoman of SEMI SMG and VP of new product marketing at MEMC Electronic Materials Inc, said in a statement. "We expect that these drivers will fundamentally remain in place for 2008, with silicon shipments likely continuing to grow at a healthy rate.”
Annual Silicon Industry Trends
| Worldwide Silicon Data | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| Area Shipments (millions of square inches) | 4,681 | 5,149 | 6,262 | 6,645 | 7,996 | 8,661 |
| Revenues ($B) | 5.5 | 5.8 | 7.3 | 7.9 | 10.0 | 12.1 |
Source: SEMI
According to SEMI, all data cited is inclusive of polished silicon wafers, including virgin test wafers, epitaxial silicon wafers, and non-polished silicon wafers shipped by the wafer manufacturers to the end-users.
SMG acts as an independent special interest group within the SEMI organization.
