June 28, 2007 – Nearly half (48%) of global wafer capacity comes from the semiconductor industry’s biggest 10 firms, and nearly a third of all capacity in 2006 came from the top five companies: Samsung, TSMC, Intel, Toshiba, and UMC, according to a new report from IC Insights.
The top five companies accounted for just over 2.9 million wafers (200mm-equivalent), the firm noted, adding that the presence of pure-play foundries TSMC and UMC indicate the “high-stakes poker game” of today’s leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing, where a new 300mm fab can easily cost upwards of $3 billion. “With fewer and fewer firms willing and able to make the investment in high-volume state-of-the-art fabs, the pure-play foundries are playing an increasingly vital role in providing the industry with a reliable and consistent supply of wafer fabrication capacity,” the firm said, in a statement.
Geographically, the companies with the most wafer capacity mirror the overall regional trend in chipmaking: Five are in Taiwan and Korea, with two each in the US and Japan, and one in Europe, according to the firm’s data. Regionally, too, the lion’s share of wafer capacity is generally held by the top two firms. Korea’s two juggernauts make up 90% of that country’s capacity, while four other regions (Europe, Taiwan, China, ROW) alll have 50% or more of their capacity tied up in two companies. On the other end of the scale, Toshiba and Renesas in Japan account for just more than a third of national capacity (with much of Toshiba’s installed wafer capacity is for flash memory partner SanDisk).
2006 installed wafer capacity leaders
(200mm-equivalent wafers/month x1000)
Company……….Headquarters region……….Installed capacity (K w/m)……….% of worldwide
Samsung……………….Korea…………………………….690…………………………….7.50%
TSMC*………………….Taiwan……………………………683…………………………….7.40%
Intel……………………..Americas…………………………613…………………………….6.60%
Toshiba…………………Japan……………………………..515…………………………….5.60%
UMC…………………….Taiwan…………………………….413…………………………….4.50%
STMicroelectronics*….Europe………………………..387…………………………….4.20%
Hynix*…………………..Korea……………………………..318…………………………….3.40%
Micron*…………………Americas…………………………287…………………………….3.10%
Powerchip……………..Taiwan…………………………….273…………………………….3.00%
Renesas Technology….Japan………………………..268…………………………….2.90%
Qimonda*………………Europe…………………………….255…………………………….2.80%
NEC*……………………Japan………………………………245…………………………….2.70%
Fujitsu………………….Japan………………………………235…………………………….2.50%
Texas Instruments……Americas……………………..210…………………………….2.30%
SMIC……………………China………………………………204…………………………….2.20%
NXP (Philips)*…………Europe………………………….190…………………………….2.10%
ProMOS………………..Taiwan…………………………….179…………………………….1.90%
Elpida Memory………..Japan……………………………..169…………………………….1.80%
Freescale………………Americas…………………………158…………………………….1.70%
Nanya Technology*…..Taiwan…………………………143…………………………….1.50%
Chartered*……………..ROW………………………………139…………………………….1.50%
IBM………………………Americas…………………………132…………………………….1.40%
Sony…………………….Japan……………………………..129……………………………..1.40%
Matsushita/Panasonic…Japan…………………………123…………………………….1.30%
MagnaChip……………..Japan…………………………….113…………………………….1.20%
Others………………………..–………………………………2180……………………………24.00%
TOTAL………………………………………………………….9249…………………………..100.00%
2006 capacity leaders per geographic region
(200mm-equivalent wafers/month x1000)
Regional leaders Combined capacity (K w/m) Total regional
capacity (K w/m) Leaders % share
Korea (Samsung, Hynix*) 1008 1118 90%
Europe (ST*, Qimonda*) 642 966 66%
Taiwan (TSMC*, UMC) 1096 1986 55%
China (SMIC, HHNEC) 284 496 57%
ROW (Chartered*, Silterra) 173 347 50%
Americas (Intel, Micron*) 900 2081 43%
Japan (Toshiba, Renesas) 783 2253 35%
TOTAL 4885 9249 53%
*Includes shares of capacity from joint ventures
Source: Companies, IC Insights