Both China and Taiwan registered stronger growth. The North America and Europe markets saw declines due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The global semiconductor materials market grew 4.9 per cent in 2020 to $55.3 billion in revenue, surpassing the previous market high of $52.9 billion set in 2018, SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, reported today in its Materials Market Data Subscription (MMDS).
“For the eleventh consecutive year, Taiwan, at $12.4 billion, was the world’s largest market for semiconductor materials on the strength of its large foundry capacity and advanced packaging base,” read SEMI’s report.
It continued, ” With its aggressive capacity build-up, China surpassed Korea to claim the second spot. Both China and Taiwan registered stronger growth, while the South Korea, Japan and ROW markets also expanded. The North America and Europe markets saw declines due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Wafer fabrication materials and packaging materials revenues totaled $34.9 billion and $20.4 billion, respectively, in 2020 for year-over-year increases of 6.5 per cent and 2.3 per cent. The photoresist and photoresist ancillaries, wet chemicals, and CMP segments accounted for the strongest growth in wafer fabrication materials, while the packaging materials expansion was driven by organic substrates and bonding wire market growth.
Fueled by surging pandemic-inspired demand for electronics devices, the global semiconductor industry, as per SEMI, is on track to register a rare three consecutive years of record highs in fab equipment spending. This includes a 16 per cent increase in 2020 followed by forecast gains of 15.5 per cent this year and 12 per cent in 2022, SEMI has highlighted in its quarterly World Fab Forecast report.
Fabs worldwide will add about $10 billion worth of equipment in each of the three years as spending climbs to top $80 billion at the end of the forecast period. Explosive demand for electronics that are the backbone of communications, computing, healthcare and online services – sectors that mounted robust responses to the COVID-19 outbreak as the world rallied to curb the coronavirus’s spread – account for much of the spending.
The bulk of fab investments in 2021 and 2022 will be seen in the foundry and the memory sectors. Driven by leading edge investment, foundry spending is expected to grow 23 per cent in 2021, reach $32 billion and flatten in 2022. Overall memory spending will increase in the single digits to reach $28 billion in 2021 while DRAM will surpass NAND Flash, and then surge by 26 per cent in 2022 on the strength of both DRAM and 3D NAND investment.
The power and MPU segment will also see strong spending growth over the forecast period. Power is forecast to show strong investment growth of 46 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively, in 2021 and 2022 driven by strong demand for power semiconductor devices. MPU will add to the momentum with 40 per cent growth in 2022 as microprocessor investments increase.
