Global IC capacity utilization hits 95.6% in 2Q10, says SICAS
(still need
Printer friendly
Related stories
Comments
Email to a friend
Latest news
Advertisement
Press release; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 18 August 2010]
The global IC capacity utilization rate reached 95.6% in the second quarter of 2010, up from 93.2% in the first, according to the latest Semiconductor Industry Capacity Statistics (SICAS) report. Utilization exceeded 95% for the first time since 95.4% in the second quarter of 2004, and was the highest since 96.4% in the third quarter of 2000, the market research group said.
Utilization was even higher for the most advanced process geometries in the second quarter, SICAS indicated. For MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) IC wafers using design rules less than 80nm, utilization was 98.7%. Utilization of 300mm MOS IC production capacity was 98.4% in the second quarter, while utilization of the MOS IC foundry segment was 98.9%, according to SICAS.
The high utilization levels in the second quarter of 2010 were buoyed by a strong rebound in wafer starts and a slow recovery in capacity, SICAS noted. IC wafer starts during the quarter were up 64% from the cyclical low in the first quarter of 2009. However, IC capacity in second-quarter 2010 was up only 0.6% from the cyclical low in the third quarter of 2009. SICAS expects IC utilization levels to remain high at least through the end of 2010, reaching 96% in the fourth quarter.
Citing data from SEMI and SEAJ, SICAS said shipments of semiconductor manufacturing equipment were US$6.9 billion in the second quarter of 2010, up over three times from a depressed level of US$2.2 billion a year ago. But the figure was still 25% below the peak of US$9.2 billion in the third quarter of 2007. SICAS does not expect the increase in manufacturing equipment shipments to have a major impact on IC capacity until 2011.
Ads by Google
Buying Stocks Online? |
