SEMI reports record semiconductor photomask sales of $3.7 billion
Milpitas, CA. SEMI today announced that after several years of incremental increases the worldwide semiconductor photomask market surged 13% to a record high $3.75 billion in 2017 and is forecast to exceed $4.0 billion in 2019. The mask market is expected to grow 5% and 4% in 2018 and 2019, respectively, according SEMI. Key photomask market drivers remain advanced technology feature sizes (less than 45 nm) and Asia-Pacific manufacturing growth. Taiwan is again the largest photomask regional market for the seventh year in a row and is expected to retain the top spot for the duration of the forecast. Korea rose in the rankings to claim the second spot.
With the $3.75 billion in revenues, photomasks accounted for 13% of the total wafer-fabrication materials market, behind silicon and semiconductor gases, in 2017. By comparison, SEMI reports that photomasks represented 18% of the total wafer fabrication materials market in 2003. Reflecting their growing importance, captive mask shops, aided by intense capital expenditures in 2011 and 2012, continue to gain market share at merchant suppliers’ expense. Captive mask suppliers accounted for 65% of the total photomask market last year, up from 63% in 2016. In 2013, captive mask shops represented 31% of the photomask market.
The recently published SEMI report, 2017 Photomask Characterization Summary, provides details on the 2017 photomask market for seven regions of the world, including North America, Japan, Europe, Taiwan, Korea, China, and Rest of World. The report also includes data for each of these regions from 2003 to 2019 and summarizes lithography developments over the past year.