Last Year's Silicon Wafer Shipments Hit Record High... Decline Expected This Year

Last Year's Shipment Volume: 14,713,000,000 Square Inches

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] The Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) announced on the 14th that the global shipment volume of silicon wafers last year reached 14.713 billion square inches, a 3.9% increase from the previous year. This is the highest ever recorded. The revenue from this shipment volume amounted to 13.8 billion dollars, a 9.5% increase compared to 2021.

SEMI explained that the demand for semiconductors increased last year due to the spread of 5th generation mobile communication (5G) and growth in advanced application fields such as automobiles and the Internet of Things (IoT). Accordingly, the shipment volumes of 8-inch and 12-inch silicon wafers also increased. Despite the high uncertainty in the global macroeconomy, the semiconductor wafer industry continues to develop, they said.

Anna Liika Buoricari Antikainen, Chair of the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG), said, "Silicon shipment volume has increased for nine consecutive years over the past decade," adding, "this shows that silicon wafers have played a central role in the growth of the semiconductor industry."

Earlier in November last year, SEMI predicted that the global shipment volume of silicon wafers this year would be 14.6 billion square inches, a decrease from last year. However, they forecast a recovery starting in 2024. The shipment volume projections for 2024 and 2025 were presented as 15.555 billion square inches and 16.49 billion square inches, respectively, indicating potential increases of 6.5% and 6.0% compared to the previous year.

SEMI included polished silicon wafers such as virgin test and epitaxial silicon wafers in this statistics. Non-polished silicon wafers were also included.