by David Manners
MILPITAS, CA—Total wafer shipments in 2018 year are expected to eclipse the all-time market high set in 2017 and continue to reach record levels through 2021, says SEMI.
The forecast of demand for silicon units for the period 2018 through 2021 shows polished and epitaxial silicon shipments totaling 12,445 million square inches in 2018; 13,090 million square inches in 2019; 13,440 million square inches in 2020, and 13,778 million square inches in 2021.“As new greenfield fab projects continue to emerge for memory and foundry, silicon shipments are expected to remain strong for 2019 and through 2021,” said Clark Tseng, director of Industry Research & Statistics at SEMI.
“Silicon demand will continue to grow as semiconductor content increases in mobile, high-performance computing, automotive, and Internet of Things applications.”