A silicon wafer is a material essential for manufacturing semiconductors, which are found in all kinds of electronic devices that enrich our lives. A silicon wafer is a thin slice of crystal semiconductor, such as a material made up from silicon crystal, which is circular in shape. Silicon wafers are made up of pure and single crystalline material. A silicon wafer provides the data processing capabilities and is majorly used in integrated circuits. Integrated circuits are used in many various devices like computers, smartphones, gaming devices, and military weapons among others.
The history of Silicon starts with its discovery by Jöns Jacob Berzelius, a Swedish chemist, in 1824. For the next 130 years silicon would not see any major industrial uses. By the early 1950s Silicon is found to be a much more efficient semiconducting material than Germanium, it raises the power output while lowering operating temperatures. In 1954, the transistor industry was born when Texas Instruments produced the first commercial silicon transistor. Silicon becomes responsible for enabling the miniaturization of electronics. Today, most transistors, integrated circuits, memory chips, and even Solar Cells, are still manufactured using Silicon in the form of wafer slices that are sawn from a grown silicon ingot. Intel has been at the forefront of developing larger Silicon Wafers for use in manufacturing its famous CPUs & computer chips. They started the development of their first memory chip products using the industry standard 2 wafers way back in 1969. You can find Silicon Wafer Market Size, Silicon Wafer Manufacturers Market Share, and other trends and statistics below and you can learn more about T4's strategy consulting services here.
The chart shows the Silicon Wafer Market Size from 2016 to 2022. In 2019, the size of the Silicon Wafer Industry was $420M and is projected to grow 8% in 2020. From 2016 to 2022 the Silicon Wafer Industry growth is projected to average 8% per year. These estimates were made before the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The short term impact of COVID-19 on the Silicon Wafer market growth will likely be High because the COVID-19 outbreak extended a decline in the total silicon wafer area that began after their October 2018 peak. Due to the decrease in consumer demand, it is expected a drop in silicon wafer sales in the second half of 2020 with possible ripple effects on price negotiations in 2021. The long term impact of COVID-19 on the Silicon Wafer market growth beyond the COVID-19 pandemic will likely be Medium because Chipmakers in the second quarter of 2020 are expected to increase silicon wafer orders to build up safety stock to meet future demand. Request help with obtaining the source for this data and learn more about T4's strategy consulting services here.
The chart shows Silicon Wafer Market Share in 2018. The Silicon Wafer Market is fragmented among many regions. The leading Region in the Silicon Wafer Industry was Taiwan with 22% market share in 2018, followed by South Korea with 21.3% Silicon Wafer Manufacturers market share, Japan with 16.8% Silicon Wafer Manufacturers market share, North America with 12.8%, China with 12.5%, Europe with 6%, and the Rest of the World with 8.7%. Get help with market research for the Silicon Wafer market, including the source for this Silicon Wafer Manufacturers Market Share chart and learn more about T4's strategy consulting services here.
Silicon Wafer market growth is driven by technological development and the advancement in the silicon wafers technology used in the electronic industry. The growing demand for solar energy will contribute to the growth of the solar panel and solar cells which in turn will boost up the silicon wafer market as the silicon wafers are widely used in the manufacturing of the solar cells. Semiconductor silicon wafer remains the core component of many microelectronic devices and forms the cornerstone of the electronics industry. With digitization and electronic mobility being the current trends in the technology landscape, these products are finding applications in a multitude of devices. Silicon wafers also have a growing demand in the electronic industry due to its flexible and small size, high reliability, low weight, and low power consumption.
Learn about T4's Consulting servicesSilicon Wafer is a Consolidating market distributed across many regions. Taiwan market share was 21.8% of the Silicon Wafer Manufacturers market in 2018. Taiwan first became the global wafer capacity leader in 2015. TSMC accounted for the vast share of wafer fab capacity in the country with 67% of Taiwan’s capacity share and is one of the top three capacity leaders worldwide. South Korea market share was 21.3% of the Silicon Wafer Manufacturers market in 2018. SK Hynix accounted for the 94% share of wafer fab capacity in the country and is one of the top three capacity leaders worldwide. Japan market share was 16.8% of the Silicon Wafer Manufacturers market in 2018. The top two companies in Japan are Toshiba Memory and Renesas, accounting for 62% of the country’s wafer fab capacity. There were recent major changes in manufacturing strategies of companies in Japan such as Micron’s purchase of Elpida several years ago and Panasonic spinning off some of its fabs into separate companies. North America market share was 12.8% of the Silicon Wafer Manufacturers market in 2018. North America’s share of capacity declined 0.4 percentage points in 2018.
T4's research team can help you learn more about the Silicon Wafer industry with market analysis, competitive analysis, commercial Due Diligence, and other market research needs. This includes deeper analysis on competitors in the Silicon Wafer market, including: Intel, Elkem, Addison Engineering, Renewable Energy Corporation, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Siltronic, Global Wafers; research into related topics such as Semiconductor, Amplifiers and Passive Components, Artificial Intelligence Semiconductor, Automotive Microcontrollers, Wireless Communications Semiconductor, Field-Programmable Gate Array, Microprocessors; or additional support in the Semiconductor, Consumer Electronics, Automotive, Telecommunication, Industrial Sectors or others. Learn more about T4's strategy consulting services here.
