GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said most of its production lines would be fully utilized this quarter and next quarter, despite a downtrend in the semiconductor industry.
Construction of its new US fab is mostly on track, except for slight delays in delivering some components due to the long lead time, GlobalWafers said.
The company said that its Texas fab would start volume production in the first quarter of 2025 at the earliest.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The new fab is supported by the Creating Helpful Initiatives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act in the US.
At the end of last quarter, GlobalWafers had accumulated NT$38.21 billion (US$1.19 billion) in repayments from customers who signed long-term supply agreements, with most of the contracts requesting capacity from the new US fab, the company said.
“We do see lower demand for smaller-diameter wafers, such as 6-inch wafers, for applications targeting consumer [electronics] and memory [chips],” GlobalWafers chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told a teleconference. “Some customers asked to reschedule shipments. Basically, all of our 200mm and 300mm wafer production lines are fully loaded in the fourth quarter and even in the first quarter of 2023.”
“We see no order cancelations, nor any changes in terms of long-term agreements with customers,” Hsu said.
The global semiconductor industry is under mounting inventory pressure due to softening demand for consumer electronics, but demand for chips used in automotive and industrial devices continues to be strong, she said.
GlobalWafers remains unable to meet demand for float-zone silicon wafers and silicon-on-insulator wafers, Hsu said.
Such wafers are mostly used to manufacture chips for 5G phones, high-performance computing and medical devices.
The company expects average selling prices to go up next year, thanks to a favorable product mix, GlobalWafers spokesman William Chen (陳偉文) said.
Gross margin would be stable next year, the company said.
However, it is facing challenges next year from volatile foreign exchange rates, surging energy costs in Europe and Japan, as well as rising depreciation costs, Hsu said.
Those unfavorable factors could put a damper on revenue growth next year, she said.
Addressing concern among investors about escalating geopolitical tensions, GlobalWafers said that its Chinese factories mostly produce 6-inch wafers and only about 5 percent of its total revenue comes from China.
GlobalWafers’ net profit surged 88.2 percent to NT$5.11 billion last quarter from NT$2.72 billion in the second quarter and rose 64.6 percent from NT$3.11 billion a year earlier.
Earnings per share rose to NT$11.74, from NT$6.24 in the previous quarter and NT$7.13 a year earlier.
Gross margin climbed to an all-time high of 43.7 percent from 43.6 percent a quarter earlier and 39.1 percent a year earlier.
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