Silicon Wafer Shipments Hit Record High in Q3... "Strong Demand Expected to Continue"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunjin Jung] The shipment volume of silicon wafers, the raw material for semiconductors, reached an all-time high in the third quarter of this year.

According to the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) on the 6th, the global shipment volume of silicon wafers in the third quarter of this year was recorded at 3.649 billion square inches. This represents a 3.3% increase from the previous quarter and a 16.4% increase compared to the same period last year, marking the largest scale ever.

The global shipment volume of silicon wafers has been on the rise since the third quarter of last year. It expanded from 3.135 billion square inches in the third quarter of last year to 3.2 billion square inches in the fourth quarter of the same year, and then increased to 3.337 billion square inches in the first quarter and 3.534 billion square inches in the second quarter.

Neil Weaver, Chairman of SEMI SMG, stated, "Shipment volumes have expanded across all sizes due to the demand for various semiconductor devices required in the modern economy," and analyzed, "In the coming years, as new fabs increase their utilization rates, the demand for silicon wafers is expected to remain at a high level."

Silicon wafers are the raw material used to manufacture semiconductor integrated circuits. They are thin, disc-shaped slices cut from silicon ingots. Through a special process, electronic circuits are etched onto the wafer, which is then cut into individual semiconductor chips. Wafer discs (round plates) are produced in various sizes ranging from 1 inch (25.4 mm) to 12 inches (300 mm).

Earlier, SEMI projected that the shipment volume of silicon wafers would increase by 13.9% this year, reaching an all-time high and showing steady growth through 2024. SEMI noted that most semiconductor sectors, including logic, foundry, and memory, contributed to the increased shipment volume this year, and expects this trend to continue going forward.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.