Manufacturing capacity utilization hits 95.6%

LONDON — Chip manufacturing capacity utilization was running at close to 100 percent in most leading-edge nodes in the second quarter of 2010, according to the Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS) organization. The numbers show that the industry's total manufacturing capacity stayed approximately constant in Q2 despite a significant increase in manufacturing capacity by foundries.

Worldwide wafer fab capacity utilization hit 95.6 percent in the second quarter of 2010, up from 93.5 percent in the first quarter, according to the organization, which collects production statistics from around the world on behalf of the industry. The industry's total capacity was 2.126 million 200-mm equivalent wafer starts per week, up by 0.9 percent sequentially but down 0.2 percent compared with Q2 2009.

Production of older process technologies above 100-nm and production on 200-mm wafers had risen to close to 90 percent and leading-edge CMOS production below 100-nm and production on 300-mm diameter wafers is at 95 to 98 percent. At the 90-, 65- and sub-60-nm nodes it was 94.6, 98.8 and 98.6 percent respectively. This is despite a remarkable increase in manufacturing capacity at foundries.

Foundry manufacturing capacity was 407,000 wafer starts per week, up 5.9 percent sequentially and up 41.2 percent compared with a year before. Wafer starts increased by 10.6 percent sequentially and 67.8 percent compared with Q2 2009 with the result that foundry manufacturing capacity hit 98.8 percent. Only a year before foundry capacity utilization had been at 83.1 percent and the quarter before that at 50.1 percent.

Manufacturing on 300-mm wafers reached 98.4 percent capacity utilization, up from 96.9 percent in the first quarter, despite a substantial increase in production capacity.

Bill Jewell of Semiconductor Intelligence LLC (Dallas, Texas) said he expects IC capacity utilization to increase through the rest of 2010, from 95.6 percent in the second quarter and reaching 96 percent in the fourth quarter.

Related links and articles:

www.sicas.info

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