According to a report released by TECHCET, an electronic materials consultancy, the silicon wafer market is at a critical stage of development, with a growing outlook, but also many challenges.
looking at the overall market trend, TECHCET predicts a steady improvement in the silicon wafer market. In 2025, the silicon wafer market is expected to grow at an annual rate of about 7%, with even stronger growth in 2026. Silicon wafer shipments are expected to grow at a CAGR of 5% between 2024 and 2029. However, the silicon wafer market underperformed in 2024, with slow inventory digestion impacting new shipments, and the expected market recovery not materializing, resulting in silicon wafer shipments down about 4% YoY and revenue down about 7% QoQ due to weak demand and softer prices.
Silicon wafers of different sizes perform differently in the market. 300mm silicon wafers are expected to grow at the highest rate, driven by increasing demand for advanced packaging. Advanced packaging technology can integrate multiple chips in a single package to improve chip performance and functional density, and is widely used in emerging fields such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things. In order to meet the high-precision and high-performance requirements of advanced packaging, 300mm silicon wafers can manufacture more chips on the same silicon wafer due to their larger size, thereby effectively reducing the manufacturing cost per chip and improving production efficiency, making it the preferred material for advanced packaging.
In contrast, smaller diameter silicon wafers, such as 150mm, are expected to see a decline in market share. With the gradual shift to 200mm silicon wafers in the traditional equipment manufacturing segment of the market, the demand for 150mm silicon wafers has decreased accordingly. In order to improve production efficiency and reduce costs, traditional equipment manufacturing enterprises choose 200mm silicon wafers with larger size and higher cost performance, which makes the market space of 150mm silicon wafers continue to be compressed.
From the perspective of market competition pattern, the strategic adjustment of suppliers and the expansion of domestic production capacity in China have had a significant impact on the market. On the one hand, suppliers are turning to advanced packaging and large-size silicon wafers in pursuit of higher profits. These areas are highly technical and value-added, which can bring more lucrative returns to enterprises. On the other hand, China's domestic silicon wafer production scale continues to expand, intensifying market competition. In recent years, China has increased investment in the semiconductor industry, silicon wafer manufacturing technology has made significant progress, and the increase of domestic production capacity has increased market supply and price competition has become more intense. This forces global silicon wafer companies to continuously innovate, optimize production processes, and reduce costs to remain competitive in the market.
Chart: The silicon wafer market is expected to grow
Looking forward to the future, the silicon wafer market will show the following development trends: In terms of technological innovation, as semiconductor technology continues to develop in the direction of higher performance and lower power consumption, the quality and performance requirements for silicon wafers will also become higher and higher. Enterprises will increase R&D investment and develop more advanced silicon wafer manufacturing processes, such as improving the flatness of silicon wafers and reducing defect rates, to meet the needs of high-end chip manufacturing. At the same time, in order to improve the electrical performance of silicon wafers, new elements or structures may be introduced into silicon wafer materials to achieve performance breakthroughs.
In terms of application field expansion, in addition to the existing semiconductor application fields, the application of silicon wafers in emerging fields is expected to be further expanded. For example, in the field of quantum computing, silicon wafers are used as a base material to make key components such as qubits. With the development of quantum computing technology, the demand for silicon wafers is likely to increase gradually. In the field of power semiconductors for new energy vehicles, silicon wafers also have broad application prospects, and with the continuous growth of the new energy vehicle market, the demand for silicon wafers for power semiconductors will also maintain an upward trend.
In terms of market competition, as the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises in the silicon wafer market continues to improve, the global market competition will become more intense. The mergers and acquisitions between enterprises may increase, and through the integration of resources, the scale effect and technical strength of enterprises will be enhanced, and their competitiveness in the market will be enhanced. At the same time, leading enterprises may strengthen cooperation with upstream and downstream enterprises to form closer industrial chain alliances to stabilize raw material supply and product sales channels and cope with market fluctuations.
The development trend of the silicon wafer market is the result of a combination of factors. The future direction of the silicon wafer market is shaping the future direction of the silicon wafer market due to the growth of demand for advanced packaging driven by emerging technologies, the transformation of silicon wafer sizes in the traditional equipment manufacturing field, as well as the strategic adjustment of suppliers and the intensification of market competition. For enterprises, accurately grasping market trends, increasing technological innovation and market expansion is the key to success in this market full of opportunities and challenges.
