Semiconductor manufacturers worldwide are on track to boost 200mm fab capacity by 950,000 wafers, or 17%, from 2020 through 2024 to reach a record high of 6.6 million wafers per month, according to SEMI.
SEMI indicated that 200mm fab equipment spending is expected to reach nearly US$4 billion in 2021 after passing the US$3 billion mark in 2020 and hovering between US$2 billion and US$3 billion from 2012 to 2019. The spending increase reflects in part the global semiconductor industry's push to overcome the current chip shortage with 200mm fab utilization continuing at high levels.
"Wafer manufacturers will add 22 new 200mm fabs to help meet growing demand for 5G, automotive and Internet of Things (IoT) devices that rely on analog, power management and display driver integrated circuits (ICs), MOSFETs, microcontroller units (MCUs) and sensors," said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO.
Foundries will account for more than 50% of fab capacity worldwide in 2021, followed by analog at 17% and discrete/power at 10%. Regionally, China will lead the world in 200mm capacity with 18% share in 2021, followed by Japan and Taiwan at 16% each, according to SEMI.
Equipment investments are projected to remain above US$3 billion in 2022, with the foundry sector accounting for more than half of the spending, followed by discrete/power at 21%, analog at 15%, and MEMS and sensors at 7%, SEMI said.
