February 7, 2012 — Worldwide silicon wafer revenues improved 2% year-over-year in 2011 ($9.9 billion), shows the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG). Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments, however, decreased 3% (9,043 million square inches). This indicates a loss of momentum in H2 2011, said Kazuyo Heinink, chairwoman of SEMI SMG and vice president, MEMC.
| Table. Annual silicon* industry trends worldwide. SOURCE: SEMI. | ||||||
| Silicon Data | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Area Shipments (MSI) | 7,996 | 8,661 | 8,137 | 6,707 | 9,370 | 9,043 |
| Revenues ($B) | 10.0 | 12.1 | 11.4 | 6.7 | 9.7 | 9.9 |
| *Shipments are for semiconductor applications only and do not include solar applications. | ||||||
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Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for semiconductors, produced in diameters from 1" to 12". All data cited in this release is inclusive of polished silicon wafers, including virgin test wafers, epitaxial silicon wafers, and non-polished silicon wafers shipped by the wafer manufacturers to the end-users.
The Silicon Manufacturers Group acts as an independent special interest group within the SEMI structure and is open to SEMI members involved in manufacturing polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon or silicon wafers (e.g., as cut, polished, epi, etc). SEMI is a global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronic manufacturing supply chains. For more information, visit www.semi.org.