SEMI: Silicon wafer shipments are expected to continue to grow this year

It was announced that the global silicon wafer shipment area in the first quarter of this year (2019) fell to 3.051 billion square inches, a decrease of 5.6% from the previous quarter and a slight decrease of 1% from the same period last year (2018), setting a new low in the past five quarters; however, SEMI also stated that as the market inventory is already being adjusted, it is still optimistic that silicon wafer shipments will maintain an upward trend this year.

SEMI's latest quarterly silicon wafer industry analysis report shows that global silicon wafer shipment area in the first quarter of 2019 fell 5.6% from the fourth quarter of last year, and fell slightly by 1% compared with the same period last year. Overall, silicon wafer shipment performance is the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2017, when shipments were 2.977 billion square inches.

In this regard, SEMI Global Marketing Director and Taiwan President Cao Shilun said that compared with the historical highs experienced last year, global silicon wafer shipments declined slightly at the beginning of this year; certain seasonal factors re-emerged, and inventory is also being adjusted. Despite this, it is expected that silicon wafer shipments will remain at an upward level this year.

Taiwan market analysts said that it was obvious that silicon wafers were in the inventory destocking stage in the first half of this year. After entering the industry's peak season in the second half of the year, it is expected to get rid of the bottom performance in the first half of the year. However, the rebound strength of market demand and downstream demand still needs further observation.

SEMI said that silicon wafers are the basic building blocks for semiconductors and are very important components for all electronic products such as computers, communications, and consumer electronics. Silicon wafers are designed with high technology and are thin discs with diameters ranging from 1 inch to 12 inches. Most semiconductor components or chips are made of this as the base material.

Since silicon wafer shipments in the first quarter of this year only slightly declined by 1% compared with the same period last year, and SEMI Global Marketing Director and Taiwan President Cao Shilun is also optimistic that silicon wafer shipments will continue to rise this year. Therefore, the four index stocks of silicon wafers in the Taiwan Stock Exchange maintained their upward performance during today's trading, including GlobalWafers (6488), SinoWafers (5483), Hejing (6182) and Taiwan Semiconductor (3532), and their stock prices rose by 1% to 3%.