Corona called the semiconductor’supercycle’… “Highest in fab equipment investment for 3 consecutive years”

Enter 2021.03.17 15:30 | Revision 2021.03.17 16:29

It is predicted that the semiconductor’supercycle (long-term boom)’ will be reproduced due to the surge in demand for electronic devices due to the spread of non-face-to-face (untact) culture brought about by the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).

According to the latest fab outlook report of the International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Association (SEMI) on the 17th, last year’s fab equipment investment in the global semiconductor industry grew by 16% from the previous year, and will continue to rise from this year (15.5%) to 2022 (12%). It is observed to be.

Fab originated from Fabrication, which means manufacturing and manufacturing in English. In the semiconductor industry, fab means factory. A semiconductor foundry (consignment production) is a company that produces semiconductors through a fab without designing, and a company that specializes in design without a fab is called a fabless. A company that designs and manufactures both semiconductors is called an integrated semiconductor company (IDM).

The amount of investment in fab equipment has experienced a supercycle from 2016 to 2018. It was the first time since the mid-1990s that fab equipment investment has grown for at least three years. SEMI analyzed that “A super cycle is expected once again in the field of investment in fab equipment for about 3 years from 2020 to 2022.”

The total semiconductor fab equipment investment is expected to be led by the foundries and memory sectors. Thanks to investment in advanced technology, the investment in the foundry this year is expected to reach 23 billion dollars (about 26 trillion won), an increase of 23% from the previous year. In 2022, the level of investment is expected to be similar to that of this year. In the case of the mebori field, it is expected to invest 28 billion dollars (about 31,673.6 billion won) this year, and DRAM investment is expected to outperform NAND flash. Accordingly, investment in memory equipment is expected to increase by 26% in 2022.

The power semiconductor and microprocessor (MPU) equipment sectors are also expected to continue double-digit growth. Investment in power semiconductor equipment is expected to increase by 46% in 2021 and 26% in 2022. MPU is also expected to soar to 40% in 2022.

Meanwhile, this forecast is the result of tracking and investigating 1374 semiconductor production facilities, including 100 additional fabs and production lines that will operate after 2021.