Japan's silicon wafer leader has full production capacity in the next five years! Supply and demand of semiconductors may remain tight

Sumco Corp. of Japan, a leading semiconductor wafer company in the world. The company has sold out of capacity by 2026, suggesting that shortages in the industry may not abate in the next few years, he said.

Sumco Corp. The company has received orders to cover the company's full capacity of 300mm (12-inch) wafers over the next five years, it said after announcing its results on Wednesday. As for 150mm (6-inch) and 200mm (8-inch) wafers, the company did not accept such long-term orders, but demand is likely to continue to outstrip supply in the coming years.

The company is the world's leading supplier of silicon wafers. According to Siltronic, the top five wafer manufacturers in 2020 are Japan Shinyue, SUMCO, Global Wafer, SK Siltron and Siltronic, which together account for 87% of the semiconductor wafer market.

The price of wafers in 2021 is 10% higher than the year before. Sumco expects the rise to continue until at least 2024.

The company said that despite the urgent need for long-term supply, it was impossible to expand production this year.

The company has done what it can to optimize its existing production line, but there is still a persistent imbalance between supply and demand in its full range of products, including 200mm and 300mm wafers.

Other companies in the semiconductor industry also expect the imbalance between supply and demand of wafers to last for a long time. For example, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger recently said that wafer supply is expected to remain tight until at least the end of 2023, and the supply situation will not improve until 2025-2030.

In addition, the recent acquisition of global wafers, a Taiwanese wafer supplier, is also likely to prolong the tension between supply and demand of wafers.

The move comes after Global Wafer's attempt to buy German wafer supplier Siltronic (Siltronic AG), for $5 billion would have brought consolidation to the chip supply chain, but the deal was not approved by regulators.