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.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
TikTok abounds with viral videos accusing prestigious brands of secretly manufacturing luxury goods in China so they can be sold at cut prices. However, while these “revelations” are spurious, behind them lurks a well-oiled machine for selling counterfeit goods that is making the most of the confusion surrounding trade tariffs. Chinese content creators who portray themselves as workers or subcontractors in the luxury goods business claim that Beijing has lifted confidentiality clauses on local subcontractors as a way to respond to the huge hike in customs duties imposed on China by US President Donald Trump. They say this Chinese decision, of which Agence