Electronics industry association SEMI released its latest figures regarding global silicon wafer shipments, with the figures showing that shipments decreased for a second-straight quarter to the lowest number since the first quarter of 2017.
SEMI's Silicon Manufacturing Group's (SMG) quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry showed that worldwide silicon wafer area shipments fell 5.6% during the first quarter of 2019 to 3,051 million square inches, which was down 1.1% year-over-year.
"Global silicon wafer shipment volumes started the year at a slightly lower level when compared to the historic highs experienced last year,” said Neil Weaver, chairman of SEMI SMG and director of product development and applications engineering of Shin Etsu Handotai America. “Some seasonality has returned and some inventory adjustments are being made. Despite this, silicon shipments remain at elevated levels.”
Those numbers account for polished silicon wafers, such as virgin test wafers and epitaxial silicon wafers, as well as non-polished silicon wafers shipped to end users.
See SEMI SMG's numbers for the past six quarters below:
The numbers coincide with those in SEMI's latest Equipment Market Data Subscription Billings Report, which showed that North American semiconductor equipment billings continued their recent downward trend in March to a total that was down 25% year-over-year.
