Revenues Improve but Remain Well Below 2007 Peak

Annual semiconductor silicon volume shipments reached record levels for the fourth year in a row. Revenue also increased last year but remains well below the market high set 10 years ago.

MILPITAS, Calif. — February 6, 2018 — Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments in 2017 increased by 10 percent against 2016 shipments, while worldwide silicon revenues rose by 21 percent over 2016 levels, reported the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its year-end analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

Silicon wafer area shipments in 2017 totaled 11,810 million square inches (MSI), up from the previous market high of 10,738 million square inches shipped during 2016. Revenues totaled $8.71 billion, 21 percent higher from the $7.21 billion posted in 2016.

“Annual semiconductor silicon volume shipments reached record levels for the fourth year in a row,” said Neil Weaver, chairman of SEMI SMG, and Director, Product Development and Applications Engineering, at Shin-Etsu Handotai America. “Annual silicon revenue also increased last year but remains well below the market high set 10 years ago.”

Annual Silicon* Industry Trends

 

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Area Shipments (MSI)

8,661

8,137

6,707

9,370

9,043

9,031

9,067

10,098

10,434

10,738

11,810

Revenues ($B)

12.1

11.4

6.7

9.7

9.9

8.7

7.5

7.6

7.2

7.2

8.7

*Total Electronic Grade Silicon Slices Excluding Non-Polished Wafers. Shipments are for semiconductor applications only and do not include solar applications.

Source: SEMI (http://www.semi.org/), February 2018

All data cited in this release includes polished silicon wafers, such as virgin test wafers and epitaxial silicon wafers, as well as non-polished silicon wafers shipped to end users.