Milpitas, CA — Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments rose 2.7% to 2.92 billion sq. in. in the first quarter, compared with fourth-quarter shipments of 2.84 billion sq. in., but dropped 4.3% year-over-year, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported today.

"Global silicon wafer shipments rebounded slightly in the first quarter after declining for one year,” said Neil Weaver, chairman SEMI SMG and vice president, product development and applications engineering at Shin Etsu Handotai America. “However, with the disruptions caused by the coronavirus, market uncertainty will prevail in the upcoming quarters.”

The data include polished silicon wafers such as virgin test wafers and epitaxial silicon wafers, as well as non-polished silicon wafers shipped to end-users.

Silicon Area Shipment Trends – Semiconductor Applications Only

      4Q 2018 1Q 2019 2Q 2019 3Q 2019 4Q 2019 1Q 2020

Total 3,234 3,051 2,983 2,932 2,844 2,920

In millions of square inches. Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), April 2020

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