Semiconductor CapEx To Grow 13.0% In 2021


Semiconductor capital expenditures grew 9.2% in 2020 to US$112.1 billion. This is $14.1 billion higher than our spring 2020 forecast, and $3.2 billion higher than our fall 2020 forecast. As shown in the graph below, the total 2020 CapEx was $9.4 billion larger than the $102.7 billion spent in 2019. Semico is forecasting 2021 CapEx to reach $127 billion, an increase of 13.0%. Source: Semico... » read more

A Promising Future For Interconnect IP


Complexity of SoC designs continues to increase primarily due to increased demand for functionality and performance in all electronic devices. Studies that Semico Research has conducted on the SoC design landscape shows the number of discrete SIP blocks has continued to rise in response to increased market requirements from new applications and richer feature sets. Table 1: Comparison of 1st... » read more

A Different Foundry Model


As the pursuit to produce advanced semiconductors that keep up with the Moore’s Law treadmill becomes more and more challenging, many companies are seeking other ways to provide the next ‘must-have’ electronic products. In fact, many companies have realized that the need for doubling performance is no longer the main attribute necessary to deliver successful solutions for IoT, automotive,... » read more

Scaling Battery Technology


Batteries are an essential ingredient for the growth of electronics from small devices used for IoT as well as large batteries for electric cars. Historically, battery energy density improves 5%-8% per year. While this is much slower than the historical improvements from Moore’s Law, it’s still the kind of growth that can result in leaps in efficiency, opening the door for a better experien... » read more

Recent Earthquakes Highlight Risk To Semiconductor Manufacturing Sites


On July 4, 2019, southern California experienced a 6.4 magnitude earthquake followed by a 7.1 earthquake the next day. Both earthquakes occurred near the town of Ridgecrest, but they were not related to the San Andreas fault, an 800-mile fault zone in California where two tectonic plates meet. The San Andreas fault is generally considered to be where “the big one” could occur in California,... » read more

Automotive Semiconductors Boost MCU, Analog Markets


Auto sales are expected to experience a slowdown in 2019, and even with the continued increase in electronics per vehicle, automotive semiconductor sales are also expected to experience a slowdown. Similar to prior years, 2019/2020 car models will include more automotive semiconductor devices to provide higher degrees of safety, comfort and convenience, driver assist capabilities, in-cabin ente... » read more

Q1 2019 Unit Drop Impacts Wafer Demand For 2019


The Semico Wafer Demand Model update for Q1 2019 now results in a 5.9% decline in wafer demand for 2019. Along with process technology and productivity, Semico’s Wafer Demand Model is highly dependent on semiconductor unit sales. In the Q1 2019, total semiconductor units dropped by 7.4% compared to Q4 2018 and 3.8% compared to Q1 2018. The drop in units is significant because of the broad spe... » read more

Slow And Cautious Start To 2019 For Memory Manufacturers


Both NAND and DRAM prices began dropping in the second half of 2018 after a couple years at record highs. Product oversupply and excess inventories are signaling a bleak outlook for the memory market in the first half of 2019. With these conditions in mind, SK Hynix and Samsung have slowed or put on hold their plans for capacity expansion in 2H18 and 2019. The chart below shows DRAM capacity... » read more

Trade Disputes Increase Market Uncertainty


The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization held its bi-annual forecast meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona last month, and one of the topics that seemed to be on everyone’s mind is the impact of tariffs and the trade tensions between the United States and China. The need to impose tariffs on U.S. imports of semiconductors is perplexing and frequently confusing. President Trum... » read more

Market Trends For Large Volume Semi Products


Material and capacity shortages typically prompt changes in normal operating procedures, especially purchasing strategies. If the uncertainty regarding world trade policies and tariffs are added on top of the shortages, the impact results in unusual gyrations in industry sales data and possible misleading signals. Discretes, analog and opto are the three largest semiconductor product categories... » read more

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