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IC companies shutter 49 fabs from 2009-2011, says IC Insights
Data compiled by IC Insights reveals that 49 semiconductor wafer fabs were closed between 2009 and 2011.
Since mid-2007, the IC industry has been paring down its older capacity, according to IC Insights. The decline in 200mm and smaller wafer capacity picked up speed in 2009 and continued through 2010 and 2011, as suppliers closed or upgraded fabs in order to produce devices more cost-effectively on larger wafers, the research firm said.
It is worth noting that a few of the fabs are being refurbished for production on larger wafers or for production of "non-IC" products, IC Insights indicated. In the coming years, more companies are expected to shutter older fabs as they transition to the fab-lite business model or become completely fabless, the research firm believes.
Most of the fab closures from 2009-2011 were 150mm wafer fabs, IC Insights revealed. The distribution of those 49 according to wafer size are: 21 for 150mm, 13 for 200mm, seven for 125mm, five for 300mm, and three for 100mm. With Qimonda going out of business in early 2009, its 300mm wafer fabs became the first of their kind to cease commercial operations, IC Insights said.
Regionally, Japan and North America each had 17 wafer fab closures between 2009-2011, followed by Europe with 12 and South Korea with three, according to IC Insights. One of the wafer fab closures in Japan was a 300mm IC fab operated by Sony. However, this fab is being retrofitted and will return to service to produce image sensors for the company.
The Qimonda wafer fab in Virginia was the only 300mm wafer fab closed in North American from 2009-2011, IC Insights observed. At the other end of the spectrum, a total of three 100mm wafer fabs were closed in the three-year span. These included fabs owned by Dalsa in Canada, ON Semiconductor in Slovak Republic, and Diodes in England, IC Insights said.
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