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TAP TIMES       -41-                                MARCH 2022


              Silicon wafer shipments                            Shipments shown are for semiconductor

                   set record in 2021                            applications only and do not include solar
                                                                 applications.

      MILPITAS, Calif. — Worldwide sili-
      con wafer area shipments in 2021 in-                       Variety of wafers included in date
      creased 14% while wafer revenue rose                       All data cited in this release includes pol-
      13% compared to 2020, topping $12                          ished silicon wafers such as virgin test wa-
      billion, to reach new all-time highs,                      fers and epitaxial silicon wafers, as well as
      the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group                       non-polished silicon wafers shipped to end
      (SMG) reported in its year-end analysis                    users.
      of the silicon wafer industry.
                                                                 Silicon wafers are the fundamental building
                                                                 material for the majority of semiconductors,

      Broad-based semiconductor demand                           which are vital components of all electronic
      Silicon shipments totaled 14,165 million                   devices.
      square inches (MSI) compared to 12,407
      MSI shipped in 2020 to meet surging broad-                 The highly engineered thin disks are pro-
      based demand for semiconductor devices                     duced in diameters of up to 12 inches and
      and a wide variety of applications. 300mm,                 serve as the substrate material on which
      200mm and 150mm wafer sizes all saw                        most semiconductor devices, or chips, are
      strong demand.                                             fabricated.


      Wafer revenue reached $12,617 million,                     The SMG is a sub-committee of the SEMI
      surpassing the previous record of $12,129                  Electronic Materials Group (EMG) and is
      million set in 2007.                                       open to SEMI members involved in manu-
                                                                 facturing polycrystalline silicon, monocrys-
      “Robust year-over-year growth”                             talline silicon or silicon wafers (e.g., as cut,
      “The robust year-over-year growth in silicon               polished, epi).
      wafer area shipments and revenue refl ects
      the heavy dependence of the modern econ-                   Collective eff orts
      omy on silicon wafers,” said Neil Weaver,                  The SMG facilitates collective eff orts on is-
      outgoing chairman SEMI SMG 2018-2021                       sues related to the silicon industry including
      and vice president, Product Development                    the development of market information and
      and Applications Engineering at Shin Etsu                  statistics about the silicon industry and the
      Handotai America.                                          semiconductor market. semi.org





















       Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), February 2022
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