Reliance on existing wafer sizes increases as near-term outlook for 450mm wafers fades.
October 10, 2016 -- Enormous financial and technology hurdles continue to plague the development of 450mm wafers. Ambitious goals to put 450mm wafers to use have been scaled back. IC manufacturers are instead maximizing their manufacturing efficiency using 300mm and 200mm wafers. IC Insights’ Global Wafer Capacity 2016-2020 report shows that worldwide capacity by wafer size was dominated by 300mm wafers in 2015 and is forecast to continue increasing through 2020 (Figure 1).
Figure 1
The number of 300mm wafer fabrication facilities in operation is forecast to keep increasing through 2020 (Figure 2). For the most part, 300mm fabs are, and will continue to be, limited to production of high-volume, commodity-type devices like DRAMs and flash memories; image sensors and power management devices; and complex logic and microcomponent ICs with large die sizes; and by foundries, which can fill a 300mm fab by combining wafer orders from many sources.
Figure 2
Report Details: Global Wafer Capacity 2016-2020
IC Insights’ Global Wafer Capacity 2016-2020—Detailed Analysis and Forecast of the IC Industry’s Wafer Fab Capacity report assesses the IC industry’s capacity by wafer size, minimum process geometry, technology type, geographic region, and by device type through 2020. The report includes detailed profiles of the companies with the greatest fab capacity and gives comprehensive specifications on existing wafer fab facilities. Global Wafer Capacity 2016-2020 is priced at $4,290 for an individual user license. A multi-user worldwide corporate license is available for $6,990.
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