GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, said that factory utilization at its 8-inch fab near Milan, Italy, is likely to stay at about 100 percent for a third straight year, aided by strong demand for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and power management ICs.
The fab is one of the most profitable for GlobalWafers, delivering a gross margin above the company’s average of 38 percent last year.
The facility in Novara, 40km from Milan, is the largest 8-inch fab operated by GlobalWafers.
The fab contributed 10 percent of the GlobalWafer’s revenue of NT$59.06 billion (US$1.91 billion) last year.
With annual capacity of 500,000 8-inch wafers, the fab seized 24 percent of the European 8-inch silicon wafer market, surpassing its larger rivals SUMCO Corp and Shin-Etsu Handotai.
“Overall, our customers in Europe kept inventories at healthy levels in the first quarter,” Marco Sciamanna, a senior director at the Novara site, told a media briefing on Tuesday.
“We continue to see very strong demand ... in the European market,” he said. “We have strong product portfolios.”
The 8-inch fab primarily produces niche silicon wafers used to make power management, MEMS and radio frequency ICs, which are the fastest-growing segments.
The MEMS and power management chip markets are expected to grow 39 percent and 25 percent respectively from 2017 to 2022, GlobalWafers said.
The firm’s product lineup has helped GlobalWafers overcome the semiconductor industry slowdown, it said.
GlobalWafers supplies silicon wafers to major companies such as STMicroelectronics NV, NXP Semiconductor NV and Infineon Technologies AG.
The chipmakers are the world’s major suppliers of power management chips, and chips used in security cards and automobiles.
European customers contribute 58 percent of the fab’s revenue.
The Novara fab has been fully utilized since 2017 and to cope with robust demand, the company said it plans to increase its capacity by 2.5 percent this year by enhancing productivity.
The company has acquired 300,000m2 of land adjacent to the fab for future capacity expansion, by there is no substantial plan to do so on the horizon.
GlobalWafers extended its footprint to Europe by acquiring SunEdison Semiconductor in 2016.
Since then, the fab’s capacity has increased 40 percent due to robust demand, yield rate improvement and the company’s extensive sales channels.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
RSS