The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA), the voice of the global semiconductor industry, announced the results of its quarterly Wafer Fabrication and Back-end Pricing Survey, analyzing prices paid per wafer and mask set and for outsourced assembly services by fabless semiconductor companies and integrated device manufacturers (IDM). The results of the Q1 2011 Wafer Fabrication and Back-end Pricing Survey include:

  • Median pricing for both 200 and 300 mm production CMOS wafers increased by about 5 percent quarter-over-quarter (QoQ).
  • After decreasing for two consecutive quarters, survey participants reported a sequential increase in the median mask set cost for 200 mm CMOS wafers. Participants indicated that the median cost increased 21 percent QoQ and 20 percent YoY.
  • The median cost for QFN packages with ≤ 64 leads increased 3 percent QoQ.
  • 90 percent of survey participants are getting the capacity they need, with the “Yes” percentage increasing by 13 percentage points QoQ.

The survey results provide detailed insight into wafer and mask costs using factors such as development stage, process geometry, number of metal layers, number of poly layers and epitaxial/non-epitaxial processes. Subscribers can also search assembly costs by such factors as package family, leads, units per week and substrate cost. These results are published in GSA’s quarterly Wafer Fabrication and Back-end Pricing Report which includes a written analysis of the survey results, a downloadable MS Access database of all aggregated results, and interactive online results showing rolling average and median prices for four consecutive quarters by varying factors.

Note: The Q1 2011 results represent purchases made/received between 10/1/2010 to 12/31/2010.