The International Semiconductor Industry Association (SEMI) released the "World Fab Forecast Report", which shows that after global semiconductor monthly wafer (WPM) production capacity increased by 5.5% to 29.6 million pieces in 2023. In 2024, it is expected to increase by 6.4% to 30 million wafers per month (based on 200nm equivalent).
Source: Internet
The semiconductor industry experienced a demand downturn in 2023, resulting in inventory adjustments and slowdowns in capacity expansion, but the economy showed a steady recovery in the second half of the year. Global chip delivery schedules gradually returned to normal in December, and the industry returned to an upward cycle amid a recovery in demand. Among them, analog chips have experienced a large decline, and prices have been seriously inverted. The prices of memory chips such as DRAM and NAND continue to rise. Power devices such as MOSFET/IGBT have improved significantly. MCU prices tend to stabilize.
SEMI believes that capacity growth in cutting-edge logic and foundry, applications including generative artificial intelligence, HPC (high-performance computing), and the recovery of chip terminal demand will drive growth in 2024.
SEMI President and CEO Ajit Manocha said that the recovery of global market demand and the increase in government incentives have driven a surge in fab investment in key chip manufacturing regions, and global semiconductor production capacity is expected to grow by 6.4% in 2024. The heightened global focus on the strategic importance of semiconductor manufacturing to national and economic security is a key catalyst for these trends.
From 2022 to 2024, the global semiconductor industry plans to start operating 82 new wafer fabs, including 11 projects in 2023 and 42 projects in 2024, with wafer sizes ranging from 300mm to 100mm (12 inches to 4 inches).
Source: Internet
In terms of production capacity in major countries, China is expected to expand its share of global semiconductor production capacity thanks to government funding and other incentives. Statistics show that mainland China's semiconductor manufacturers' production capacity will increase by 12% year-on-year in 2023, reaching 7.6 million wafers per month. Mainland China chip manufacturers are expected to start operating 18 projects in 2024, with production capacity increasing by 13% year-on-year in 2024, reaching 8.6 million wafers per month.
Taiwan, China, will remain the second-largest region in semiconductor production capacity. Production capacity will increase by 5.6% to 5.4 million wafers per month in 2023 and 4.2% to 5.7 million wafers per month in 2024. Five new semiconductor companies will be established in 2024. Round factory.
South Korea's chip production capacity ranks third with 4.9 million wafers per month in 2023 and will increase to 5.1 million wafers per month in 2024. With the commissioning of a wafer fab, production capacity will increase by 5.4%.
Japan's production capacity is expected to reach 4.7 million pieces in 2024. With the commissioning of four wafer fabs in 2024, production capacity will increase by 2%.
In 2024, six new wafer fabs will be built in the Americas, and chip production capacity will increase by 6% year-on-year to 3.1 million pieces. Europe and the Middle East are expected to increase production capacity by 36% to 2.7 million pieces in 2024, while Southeast Asia will increase production capacity by 4% to 1.7 million pieces in 2024 with the launch of four new fab projects.
From the product field, due to weak demand for consumer electronics, the memory chip field will slow down production capacity expansion in 2023, with monthly production capacity increasing by only 2% to 3.8 million wafers per month, and will increase by 5% to 4 million per month in 2024. piece. The installed capacity of 3D NAND is expected to remain flat at 3.6 million wafers per month in 2023 and increase by 2% to 3.7 million wafers per month in 2024.
In both discrete components and analog chips, vehicle electrification remains a key driver of capacity expansion. Among them, the production capacity of discrete component chips is expected to increase by 10% in 2023, reaching 4.1 million wafers per month, and will continue to increase by 7% in 2024, reaching 4.4 million wafers per month. Analog chip production capacity is expected to increase by 11% to 2.1 million pieces in 2023 and by 10% to 2.4 million pieces in 2024.