SEMI "Slowing Demand for Silicon Wafers Next Year Due to Macroeconomic Deterioration"

Next Year’s Global Wafer Shipments to Reach 14.6 Billion Square Inches... 0.6% Decrease YoY

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] Despite the sluggish semiconductor market, demand for silicon wafers, a core material in semiconductor manufacturing, is expected to maintain growth through this year. However, negative growth due to market deterioration is anticipated next year. Recovery is also predicted to begin from 2024.

On the 8th, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) forecasted that the global shipment volume of silicon wafers this year will increase by 4.8% compared to the previous year, reaching 14.694 billion square inches. Despite the semiconductor market downturn becoming more pronounced this year, wafer demand is expected to continue through the end of the year, potentially resulting in higher shipment volumes than last year.

However, the shipment forecast for silicon wafers in the fourth quarter of this year is 3.57 billion square inches, which may be lower than the approximately 3.7 billion square meters recorded in individual tallies from the first to third quarters of this year.

Next year, global macroeconomic slowdown is also expected to cause stagnation in silicon wafer demand. SEMI projects that the global shipment volume of silicon wafers in 2023 will decrease by 0.6% compared to this year, totaling 14.6 billion square inches.

Recovery is anticipated from 2024. SEMI presented the global shipment forecasts for silicon wafers in 2024 and 2025 as 15.555 billion square inches and 16.49 billion square inches, respectively, indicating potential growth of 6.5% and 6.0% year-over-year.

SEMI explained, "Growth is expected to continue from 2024 due to semiconductor demand used in data centers, automobiles, and industrial applications."

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