Worldwide silicon wafer revenues declined by 13 percent in 2013 compared to 2012 according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its year-end analysis of the silicon wafer industry. Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased 0.4 percent in 2013 when compared to 2012 area shipments.
Silicon wafer area shipments in 2013 totaled 9,067 million square inches (MSI), slightly up from the 9,031 million square inches shipped during 2012. Revenues totaled $7.5 billion down from $8.7 billion posted in 2012. “Annual semiconductor silicon shipment levels have remained essentially flat for the past three years,” said Hiroshi Sumiya, chairman of SEMI SMG and general manager of the Corporate Planning Department of Shin-Etsu Handotai Co., Ltd. ”However, industry revenues have declined significantly for the past two years.”
Annual Silicon* Industry Trends
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
| Area Shipments (MSI) | 8,137 | 6,707 | 9,370 | 9,043 | 9,031 | 9,067 |
| Revenues ($B) | 11.4 | 6.7 | 9.7 | 9.9 | 8.7 | 7.5 |
*Shipments are for semiconductor applications only and do not include solar applications
Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for semiconductors, which in turn, are vital components of virtually all electronics goods, including computers, telecommunications products, and consumer electronics. The highly engineered thin round disks are produced in various diameters (from one inch to 12 inches) and serve as the substrate material on which most semiconductor devices or “chips” are fabricated.
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.). The purpose of the group is to facilitate collective efforts on issues related to the silicon industry including the development of market information and statistics about the silicon industry and the semiconductor market.
As once pointed out years ago by a legendary VP of Sales at Wacker “The Silicon business is like show business.”
He illustrated by a joke about the man with the carnival whose job it was to clean up the smelly bucketloads of prolific elephant dung. A passerby, who saw him hip-deep in the excrement, asked, “My good man, how can you put up with such demeaning conditions? Haven’t you ever thought about another line of work?” To which the carnival worker replied, “What—and give up show business?”
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