GlobalWafers Inc (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday raised its business outlook for the first quarter of next year, encouraged by a rebound in customer demand, which has it expecting a recovery next quarter — two quarters earlier than originally expected.
GlobalWafers early last month gave a bearish outlook, predicting a recovery possibly in the third quarter of next year.
“A lot of customers have shown strong demand lately, especially for 12-inch epitaxial wafers,” Lee Chung-wei (李崇偉), special assistant to company chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭), said by telephone.
Lee doubles as spokeswoman for Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (中美晶), a GlobalWafers partner.
“Demand has surpassed what the company can supply. All [GlobalWafers’] 12-inch epitaxial wafer capacity is fully booked for the whole of 2020,” Lee said.
Epitaxial wafers, featuring an additional monocrystalline surface layer deposited on polished wafers, are essential for manufacturing chips using advanced technologies such as 14-nanometer and 7-nanometer node solutions.
Customer demand for 12-inch silicon wafers from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan has exceeded the company’s expectations, as the world’s major chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), gave good financial forecasts and plan to expand capacity next year, GlobalWafers said.
However, demand for 8-inch and 6-inch wafers was relatively weaker, the company added.
GlobalWafers was previously worried that the industry slump might last longer, given unresolved inventory issues and a US-China trade spat, Hsu told a media gathering in Taipei yesterday.
That could delay the recovery, but visibility has cleared up recently, as TSMC, Intel Corp, Infineon Technologies AG and Micron Technology Inc have gradually begun increasing their orders and have given a positive outlook for next year, Hsu said.
On top of that, the companies have laid out new capacity expansion plans, she said.
Hsu said that those positive factors have eliminated all her negative thoughts and she is “positive” about GlobalWafers’ business prospects for the whole year of next year.
Demand is expected to improve every quarter next year, after hitting a trough this quarter, Hsu said. Next year, wafer prices on long-term supply contracts would be lower than this year, she added.
GlobalWafers’ board of directors earlier this month approved a US$330 million investment plan for local plants, primarily for developing advanced silicon carbide wafers for 5G applications and electric vehicles.
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