Global silicon wafer shipments up 7.1% in Q2
New data from industry body SEMI says silicon wafer shipments hit 3,035 million square inches (MSI) in the second quarter of 2024.
The numbers represent a short term improvement (up 7.1% on Q1) but a longer term decline (down 8.9% from the 3,331 million square inches recorded in Q2 2023).
SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported the data as part of its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry. The study includes analysis of polished silicon wafers, epitaxial silicon wafers, and non-polished silicon wafers shipped by the wafer manufacturers to end users.
"The silicon wafer market is recovering driven by strong demand related to products for data centers and generative AI," said Lee Chungwei, Chairman of SEMI SMG and Vice President and Chief Auditor at GlobalWafers in a press note. "While the recovery is uneven across different applications, 300mm wafer Q2 shipments indicated 8% quarter-over-quarter growth for the best performance among all wafer sizes. There are a growing number of new semiconductor fabs under construction or ramping production volume. This expansion, along with the longer-term trend toward a USD 1 trillion semiconductor market, will inevitably require more silicon wafers."
Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for the majority of chips, and serve as the substrate material on which most semiconductors are fabricated.
