GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said revenue would increase at a much slower pace this year due to customers’ inventory adjustments and lackluster chip demand for smartphones, vehicles and industrial devices.
“The pickup in the second quarter was much weaker than we had thought,” GlobalWafers chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told reporters following the firm’s annual general meeting. “We had expected a V-shape rebound, but that did not happen, and customers remain conservative about placing new orders due to high inventories.”
Another weak spot is the company’s compound semiconductor business — which includes the production of silicon carbide and gallium nitride chips — due to sagging electric vehicle demand and rapid growth in new capacity from China, Globalwafers said.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
Revenue from the compound semiconductor business is expected to grow about 50 percent annually, rather than doubling or tripling as previously estimated, it said.
The only bright spots would be in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications, which propel demand for advanced memory chips such as high-bandwidth memory and DRAM chips, and in turn GlobalWafers’ advanced epitaxial wafers, it said.
The company said it anticipates better prospects next year, with customers’ inventory returning to healthy levels and PC replacement demand expected to stimulate chip consumption.
Separately, GlobalWafers said the EU Commission had issued an assignment decree awarding the firm’s Italian subsidiary MEMC Electronic Materials SpA a research-and-development grant of up to 103 million euros (US$110.4 million).
The Novara-based subsidy accounts for about 25 percent of the total investment of 420 million euros for the company’s planned 12-inch production facility in Italy.
“MEMC’s new fab will fill a critical gap in the European semiconductor supply chain that until now has been highly dependent on imports to supply wafers for the most advanced technology platforms,” GlobalWafers said.
The new plant would support the creation of downstream products, including sensors, logic applications, power and communications applications. It is set to ramp up production in the second half of next year, with an installed capacity of 100,000 wafers a month.
GlobalWafers expects the fab to help expand its market share in Europe from 30 percent currently, it said.
The investment is expected to create 600 construction jobs and 150 long-term company jobs, it added.
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