Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - SEMI: Semi Materials Expected to Grow More than 10% this Year

SAN JOSE, CA – The global semiconductor materials market is expected to grow more than 10% in 2007, and is forecasted to grow another 10% next year, SEMI reports.

Growth is being driven by record numbers of semiconductor devices being manufactured and materials consumed in fabricating and packaging those devices, says the association.

Growth is expected both in wafer fab materials and packaging. Current estimates predict that fab materials will grow about 9% to $24 billion, and packaging materials will rise more than 13% to $16.6 billion this year, according to SEMI.

On a regional basis, both Japan and Taiwan are anticipated to remain the two largest material-consuming regions, followed by the South Korean and Southeast Asian regions.

The materials market in China grew 36% last year as the result of capacity coming online from renewed fab and assembly facility investments; it is expected that wafer fab materials will represent a larger portion of materials consumed in this region in the near future, says the association.

“Semiconductor unit growth, the 300 mm ramp, and the transition to flip chip packages are driving the revenue growth in the semiconductor materials market,” said Dan Tracy, senior director of Industry Research and Statistics of SEMI. "However, higher raw material costs represent a major challenge for both material suppliers and their customers.”