To keep pace with relentless growth in chip demand, global semiconductor production capacity is expected to reach a new record in 2025, with 33.7 million wafers per month in 200mm equivalent, according to Semi.
The global semiconductor industry continues its race for production capacity to meet growing demand for chips. According to the trade organization’s latest quarterly World Fab Forecast report Semiglobal chip production capacity is expected to increase by 6% in 2024 and 7% in 2025, to 33.7 million wafers per month in 200 mm (8 inch) equivalent, which would constitute a new record .
Production capacity for advanced engraving nodes (5 nm and less) is expected to grow by 13% in 2024, mainly thanks to generative AI, specifies Semi. To increase the processing power of chips, semiconductor manufacturers such as Intel, Samsung and TSMC are about to start production of chips using an architecture Gate-All-Around (GAA) technology, helping to grow global production capacity for advanced etching nodes by 17% in 2025, according to Semi.
“The proliferation of AI processing, from cloud computing to network edge devices, is fueling the race to develop high-performance chips and driving a sharp expansion in global semiconductor production capacityunderlines Ajit Manocha, CEO of Semi. This creates a virtuous cycle where AI drives the development of high-performance semiconductors across an increasingly diverse range of applications, encouraging new investments. »
According to Semi, Chinese chipmakers are expected to maintain double-digit growth in their semiconductor production capacities, with the trade body forecasting growth of 15% in 2024 and 14% in 2025, to reach 10.1 million. slices per month in 200 mm equivalent next year, or 30% of the world total. At the risk of introducing excess production capacity, Chinese producers, particularly foundries, continue to invest aggressively in expanding their production capacities, in particular to mitigate the impact of the tightening of export controls imposed by the United States.
For most other major chip-producing regions, production capacity growth will be much lower than that of China. Semi expects growth of 4% for Taiwan in 2025, to 5.8 million wafers per month, and 7% for South Korea, to 5.4 million wafers per month. The professional organization expects, for 2025, 4.7 million tranches per month for Japan (+3%), 3.2 million tranches per month for the Americas (+5%), 2.7 million tranches per month for Europe (+4%) and 1.8 million slices per month for Southeast Asia (+4%).
Note that with a share of only 8% for Europe in 2025, we are very far from theobjective of 20% of global production by 2030 set by theEuropean Chips Act.
Semi also specifies that the share of foundries should reach nearly 38% in 2025, at 12.7 million wafers per month, with growth of 11% in 2024 and 10% in 2025 in their cumulative production capacities.
Finally, Semi anticipates unprecedented capacity growth in the memory sector, with the rapid adoption of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to meet the growing demand for high-performance processors required by AI servers. The main Dram/HBM manufacturers are expected to increase their production capacities by 9% in 2024 and 2025. On the other hand, Semi expects zero growth in 3D Nand memory production capacity for 2024 and an increase of 5% in 2025.
