After the 300 mm wafer fabrication went on-line in 2004, the semiconductor manufacturing capacity in Asia has continually grown, especially in Taiwan, and growth will continue for the next several years, reports In-Stat. With Taiwan building up foundry capacity, it has become the highest fabrication density area, says the high tech market research firm. “Capacity in China will also grow rapidly over the next several years,” says Prakash Vaswani, In-Stat analyst. “Price advantages and emerging domestic fabrication-less companies will allow China’s local foundries to survive.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

  • Due to outsourcing trends catching up with IDM, dedicated foundry companies are benefiting from outsourcing orders both from IC design houses and IDMs.

  • Because of 300 mm wafer fabrication’s capital risk and a more competitive industry environment, alliance and mergers will become a common phenomenon in this industry.

  • TSMC and UMC are the leading foundries in Asia and will account for over 50 percent of Asian capacity through 2009.

The research, “Semiconductor Manufacturing Capacity by Countries in Asia, 2006,” covers the Asian semiconductor manufacturing industry and includes capex and capacity by key accounts from 2004 to 2008, with the forecast segmented further by major geographic region. This research identifies and quantifies industry development within each major geographic region and recommends strategies for vendors to take advantage of these opportunities. It also discusses East Asia IDMs, foundry and DRAM vendor development. This research is part of In-Stat’s Asia Semiconductor and Manufacturing Service, which tracks semiconductor consumption by application and by country. This service forecasts application segments in crucial Asian markets, including China, India, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.