Despite the (imminent) recession in many western countries, manufacturers of wafer blanks continue to expand. This applies to all industry giants, starting with Sumco and its Taiwanese offshoot Sumco Formosa, plus the companies SK Siltron and Globalwafers. Large sums are invested.
Sumco and Sumco Formosa, as Taiwan was formerly called, are among the largest and most important suppliers of wafer blanks for TSMC. Since TSMC's expansion plans still seem to be unbroken, one of the most important suppliers must also go along with it – nothing works at TSMC without wafers either. That's why Sumco Formosa is expanding its factory in western Taiwan and will invest 7.4 billion New Taiwan dollars, according to the mandatory disclosure to the stock exchange. By 2024, the expansions should be worth the equivalent of 230 million US dollars.
The parent company Sumco is also investing. A large project has already been implemented for around a year, and around two billion US dollars are being invested. This additional capacity should now gradually go online, as can also be seen from the last quarterly report as a greenfield investment. According to the forecasts, however, the expansion plans will lag behind the demand for 150, 200 and 300 mm wafers.
SK Siltron announced on To invest 2.3 trillion won in three phases over the course of 2022 to 2026 at the end of last week in a factory in the Gumi National Industrial Complex. The equivalent of around 1.6 billion US dollars should ensure that the time after the possible slowdown will now end with the hoped-for upswing.
The number 3 in the world market, global wafers , had already announced a huge investment in the summer. In order to also receive subsidies from the state, Globalwafers migrated to the USA with its new factory and, with its location in Texas, not only sought proximity for many new building plans in the semiconductor industry, but also financial incentives from the state of Texas and the US Chips Act. GlobalWafers will invest almost 5 billion US dollars in the USA, and the first products should roll out of the factory from 2025.