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To: Martin Wormser who wrote (19649)	8/8/1999 11:04:00 AM
From: Martin Wormser	Respond to of 25814

From the ee times. Is MEMC the only US manufacturer? Wafer suppliers struggle to cope with higher demand By Yoshiko Hara EE Times (08/04/99, 3:31 p.m. EDT) TOKYO — Brisk semiconductor sales have raised requirements for wafers and demand is now approaching production capacity, but wafer manufacturers claim they have no money to increase production capacity. "The demand for 8-inch wafers worldwide has reached about 3.3 million units per month in June and July, according to our estimation," said Takaie Yoshizumi, vice president of Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. and acting chairman of the silicon committee of the Japan Society of Newer Metals. "The 3.3 million units is almost equal to current 8-inch wafer production capacity." Eight members of the silicon committee — MEMC, Komatsu Electronic Metals, Shin-Etsu Handotai, Sumitomo Metal Industries, Toshiba Ceramics, NSC Electron, Mitsubishi Materials Silicon, and Wacker Chemicals East Asia — supply over 90 percent of world's wafers. Two other members, Tokuyama and Mitsubishi Materials Polycrystalline Silicon, are poly-silicon manufacturers. Most manufacturers in the wafer business ran in the red last year because of declining wafer prices, and Yoshizumi said the companies will probably continue to be in the red this year. "In these circumstances, investment on production increase is impossible," he said. "It will be used mostly for upgrading the lines to cope with semiconductor manufacturers' rapid shift to finer process." While supplies of 8-inch wafers are getting tight, the supply of smaller platters such as 6-inch wafers is even more severe. "Manufacturers are closing smaller wafer lines and shifting employees to 8-inch wafer lines," Yoshizumi said. "The production of smaller wafer is decreasing and demand is now surpassing supply."