- According to SEMI, the semiconductor industry association, the global market for semiconductor materials will decline by 8.2% in 2023 to $66.7 billion, compared with $72.7 billion in 2022.
As semiconductor manufacturers strive to reduce excess inventories, demand weakened in 2023. This has led to lower plant capacity utilization and, consequently, lower consumption of semiconductor materials.
The market for wafer fabrication materials fell by 7.0% to $41.5 billion in 2023, while that for packaging materials dropped by 10.1% to $25.2 billion last year.
The silicon, photoresist auxiliaries, wet chemicals and chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) segments recorded the steepest sales declines in the silicon wafer materials market. The downturn in the packaging materials market was mainly due to contraction in the organic substrates segment.
For the 14th year running, Taiwan was the world’s largest consumer of semiconductor materials ($19.2 billion). China, with $13.1 billion, ranks second in 2023, while Korea remains the third largest consumer at $10.6 billion. All regions of the world, with the exception of China, have recorded significant (single- or double-digit) declines in their consumption of semiconductor materials in 2023.
