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Leading suppliers of silicon wafers forecast year-end wafer shipments for 2004 to be 23 percent higher than 2003 shipments |
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NewsreleaseDate:
2004-10-08
SEMI SILICON MANUFACTURERS GROUP ANNOUNCES
SILICON WAFER SHIPMENT CONSENSUS FORECAST
Wafer Shipments Forecast to Grow 23 Percent in 2004
SAN JOSE, Calif., October 2004 – The leading suppliers of silicon wafers forecast year-end wafer shipments for 2004 to be 23 percent higher than 2003 shipments. According to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) Consensus Forecast, total wafer shipments will increase by about 5 percent in 2005. The Consensus Forecast, obtained through surveying SMG members, provides a silicon wafer shipment outlook for 2004 through 2007.
The survey forecast results show silicon shipments reaching 6,313 million square inches in 2004, 6,596 million square inches in 2005, 6,784 million square inches in 2006, and 7,201 million square inches in 2007.
"The silicon wafer capacity continued to be in balance with the demand through the first half of 2004 and we foresee continued moderate year-on-year growth that will result in cautious expansion and a tight supply scenario that should lead to an improved financial outlook for the silicon industry," said John Kauffmann, VP of Marketing for MEMC and Chairman of the SMG.
Kauffmann said that the SMG concurs with the statement in the July news release from the Japan Society of Newer Metals, which indicates that "the administrative circumstances of the silicon industry are becoming more severe [tight supply]" and "semiconductor manufacturers and silicon manufacturers should further strengthen ties of partnership and cooperate on technology, cost, etc. to settle the existing issues."
2004 Consensus Forecast
Total Electronic Grade Silicon Slices
(Millions of Square Inches)
Actual
2003
Forecast
2004
Forecast
2005
Forecast
2006
Forecast
2007
MSI
5,149
6,313
6,596
6,784
7,201
Annual Growth
10%
22.9%
4.5%
2.9%
6.2%
Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for semiconductors, which in turn, are vital components of virtually all electronics goods, including computers, telecommunications products, and consumer electronics. The highly engineered thin round disks are produced in various diameters (from one inch to 12 inches) and serve as the substrate material on which more than 95 percent of today’s semiconductor devices or "chips" are fabricated.
All data cited in this release is inclusive of polished silicon wafers, including virgin test wafers, epitaxial silicon wafers, and non-polished silicon wafers shipped by the wafer manufacturers to the end-users.
The Silicon Manufacturers Group acts as an independent special interest group within the SEMI structure and is open to all SEMI members involved in manufacturing polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon or silicon wafers (e.g., as cut, polished, epi, etc.) not including reclaimed wafers. The purpose of the group is to facilitate collective efforts on issues related to the silicon industry including the acquisition of market information and statistics about the silicon industry and the semiconductor market.
SEMI is a global industry association serving companies that develop and provide manufacturing technology and materials to the global semiconductor, flat panel display, MEMS and related microelectronics industries. SEMI maintains offices in Austin, Beijing, Brussels, Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose (Calif.), Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.semi.org.
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