Shift from 8'' Wafer Fabs to 12'' Could Ease IC Shortages
By Ian Lankshear, EnSilica (May 18, 2021)
To put it mildly, the 8-inch (200mm) wafer supply chain is somewhat struggling.
As one headline from December read, “8-inch wafer capacity is in short supply to unimaginable levels”, with the article stating “wafer production capacity is so tight that customers’ demand for production capacity has reached a panic level.” And that from mid 2021 “to the second half of 2022, the logic and DRAM markets will be out of stock.”
This is not a new problem, Trends Force stated around the same time that “8-inch wafer capacity has been in severe shortage since 2H19”. And EE Times reported in February 2020 that “Shortages loom after 8-inch fabs run at 99% capacity in Q1”.
And to cap it all off, March’s fire at a Renesas fab used by GM and other car manufacturers can only make matters worse. As Nikkei put it: “Loss of advanced semiconductors could worsen global crunch [of automotive chips].”
E-mail This Article | Printer-Friendly Page |
|
EnSilica Ltd. Hot IP
Related News
Breaking News
- Ceva multi-protocol wireless IP could simplify IoT MCU and SoC development
- Controversial former Arm China CEO founds RISC-V chip startup
- Fundamental Inventions Enable the Best PPA and Most Portable eFPGA/DSP/SDR/AI IP for Adaptable SoCs
- Cadence and TSMC Collaborate on Wide-Ranging Innovations to Transform System and Semiconductor Design
- Numem at the Design & Reuse IP SoC Silicon Valley 2024
Most Popular
- GUC provides 3DIC ASIC total service package to AI/HPC/Networking customers
- Qualitas Semiconductor Appoints HSRP as its Distributor for the China Markets
- Siemens collaborates with TSMC on design tool certifications for the foundry's newest processes and other enablement milestones
- Credo at TSMC 2024 North America Technology Symposium
- Huawei Mate 60 Pro processor made on SMIC 7nm N+2 process