MILPITAS, CA — Worldwide silicon wafer shipments in 2023 decreased 14.3% to 12,602 million square inches while wafer revenue contracted 10.9% to $12.3 billion over the same period, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported in its year-end analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

The decline, a sharp departure from the previous three years of consecutive growth, stemmed from a slowdown in end-demand, coupled with a broad-based inventory correction. Softening memory and logic sector demand led to a decline in orders for 12-inch wafers, while weakening foundry and analog uptake accounted for a drop in shipments of 8-inch wafers.

"Shipments of 12-inch polished and epi wafers contracted 13% and 5% in 2023, respectively,” said Lee Chungwei (李崇偉), chairman of SEMI SMG and Vice President and Chief Auditor at GlobalWafers. “Total shipments of all wafer sizes slipped 9% in the second half of 2023 relative to the first half of the year.”

Annual Silicon* Industry Trends 

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), February 2024

*Data cited in this release include polished silicon wafers, including those used as virgin test wafers, as well as epitaxial silicon wafers, and non-polished silicon wafers shipped by the wafer manufacturers to end users. Shipments are for semiconductor applications only and do not include solar applications.