Foundry, memory and power to drive fab capacity expansion

“While the pace of the global 300mm fab capacity expansion is moderating, the industry remains squarely focused on growing capacity to meet robust secular demand for semiconductors,” says Ajit Manocha, SEMI President and CEO, “the foundry, memory and power sectors will be major drivers of the new record capacity increase expected in 2026.”

Chipmakers expected to increase 300mm fab capacity during the 2022 to 2026 forecast period to meet growth in demand include GlobalFoundries, Hua Hong Semiconductor, Infineon, Intel, Kioxia, Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix, SMIC, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, TSMC and UMC.

82 new facilities and lines are planned to start operations from 2023 to 2026.

Due to U.S. export controls, China will continue to focus government investments on mature technology to lead in 300mm front-end fab capacity, increasing its global share from 22% in 2022 to 25% in 2026, reaching 2.4 million wpm, says SEMI.

Korea’s worldwide 300mm fab capacity share is expected to slip from 25% to 23% from 2022 to 2026 on weak demand in the memory market.

Taiwan is on track to retain third place despite a slight dip in share from 22% to 21% during the same period, while Japan’s share of worldwide 300mm fab capacity is also expected to edge down, from 13% last year to 12% in 2026, as competition with other regions increases.

Powered by strong demand in the automotive segment and government investment, the Americas and Europe & Mideast are expected to see 300mm fab capacity share growth from 2022 to 2026.

The Americas’ global share is forecast to rise 0.2% to nearly 9% by 2026, while Europe & Mideast is projected to increase its capacity share from 6% to 7% and Southeast Asia is expected to maintain its 4% share of 300mm front-end fab capacity during the same period.

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