We are entering the golden age of semiconductor production. Sumco stated that the demand for these smaller wafers will far exceed the manufacturing capacity for many years to come. Prices rose 10% in 2021, and theyвЂ™re expected to increase every year for years to come. Sumco isnвЂ™t even taking long-term orders right now for these products, as there is so much demand. This is where we are seeing the worst shortages. ItвЂ™s the 150 mm and the 200 mm wafers that are typically used for the kinds of applications that I mentioned above вЂ“ automotive, consumer electronics, and also industrial applications. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) uses these to support the semiconductor manufacturing for companies like NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Apple, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The 300 mm wafers are the ones that are in the highest demand for the highest-volume semiconductors.

ThatвЂ™s five years of production already accounted for, and that includes the new production capacity that Sumco is bringing online. On SumcoвЂ™s latest quarterly earnings call, the company noted that it has already booked orders for its entire production of 300 mm wafers through 2026. And this is where things get interestingвЂ¦ ThatвЂ™s why itвЂ™s useful to track their own forecasts for the industry. The reality is that without JapanвЂ™s two suppliers, the entire industry would fall over. Here is what the market looks like on a global level: So, itвЂ™s no surprise that Japan dominates over 50% of the global market for wafers. This is a highly specialized market, and one that requires unbelievable levels of quality. Without these wafers, there would be no semiconductors, which is why I pay attention to what is happening in that part of the industry. It is upon these wafers that semiconductor designs are etched using special equipment.ДЄfter the semiconductors have been вЂњdrawnвЂќ into the wafers, they are treated, cut up into individual semiconductors, and packaged for use in electronics. These ingots are manufactured at an almost unbelievable level of purity around 99.999999999%.ДЇrom this material, wafers of standard industry sizes вЂ“ the largest of which are typically 300 millimeters (mm) вЂ“ are sliced at a thickness of about 1 mm. Silica rocks are reduced to silicon metal in a special furnace from which polycrystalline silicon ingots are produced. Polycrystalline Silicon Ingots and Silicon Wafers This is the material from which semiconductors are made. Today, weвЂ™re going to have a look at silicon wafers. And in order to do that, we need to dig even deeper into the semiconductor supply chain. To get an even better understanding of what is happening in the industry, we have to look farther out. WeвЂ™ll start to see some of the pressure lift in the second half of this year, but shortages in certain areas will persist into 2023. And because the more mature manufacturing processes werenвЂ™t used to these kinds of spikes, we ended up with quite the shortage. This increased demand for semiconductors of all kinds. The economy was incredibly strong going into the pandemic, and consumption actually accelerated as a result of it. The industry continues to invest over $100 billion a year in new manufacturing capacity. Most have said that this is a supply chain problem, or that there is a lack of investment from semiconductor companies. These are the kinds of semiconductors that are typically used in cars, household appliances, and other electronics that arenвЂ™t particularly sensitive to size and power consumption.

Where the industry has struggled to meet demand is in more mature semiconductors that have been used for years. The semiconductor industry has managed to meet most demand for the leading edge вЂ“ most advanced вЂ“ semiconductors that are used in the highest-volume consumer products such as smartphones.

But Bleeding Edge readers know that they arenвЂ™t. The headlines tend to be generic, as if all semiconductors are alike. The semiconductor shortage continues to grab headlines as the world sees ongoing product shortages due to the absence of key semiconductors.

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