Order visibility at GlobalWafers Inc (環球晶圓) extends into 2024 and its capacity for next year is fully booked, the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier said yesterday.
GlobalWafers is trying to squeeze out extra capacity by increasing production efficiency, but the company is still unable to satisfy customer demand for next year, company chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony to mark the 41st anniversary of the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區).
“We have clear order visibility for 2023 and it should be okay into 2024,” Hsu said. “We do not see any signs of things slowing down in 2023 or 2024.”
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
The firm has received more than NT$100 billion (US$3.6 billion) in orders, Hsu said.
To secure a stable wafer supply, many customers are signing longer supply agreements, from five years in 2007 — when its made-to-order strategy was first introduced — to eight years now, GlobalWafers said.
Although segments have their ups and downs, a weak segment, such as smartphones, is soon offset by the upswing of another segment, such as cars or 5G-related applications, Hsu said.
GlobalWafers said that it expects its factories to remain fully utilized through 2024, mainly because capacity expansion worldwide moves at a snail’s pace.
“The major task of our salespeople is to explain to customers why we can only fulfill 90 percent of their demand,” Hsu said. “GlobalWafers is not the only company in the world that is facing a supply challenge.”
Global shipments of silicon wafers are expected to see annual growth of 6.4 percent next year, 4.6 percent in 2023 and 2.9 percent in 2024, GlobalWafers said.
To expand capacity, GlobalWafers said it would over the next two years invest US$800 million on improving production efficiency at its 12-inch fabs, including those in the US.
Hsu declined to comment on wafer prices, but said that GlobalWafers factors spikes in manufacturing costs into its product pricing.
The cost of transportation and raw materials, including chemicals, have been increasing since the emergence of COVID-19, amid port gridlock, a container shortage and temporary shutdowns at factories.
The company expects the EU’s introduction of a carbon border tax in 2026 to add to its manufacturing costs, as importers and manufacturers outside the EU would have to pay for the carbon emissions linked to the goods and materials they sell in the eurozone, Hsu said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure