The foundry industry market is noisy, and the outside world has different opinions on the outlook of the industry. However, recently there have been news that the foundry has raised prices once more. In addition to the shortage of Wi-Fi chips and other applications, the 28nm production capacity continues to be in short supply. TRANSSION (2303-TW)(UMC-US) The production capacity in 2023 has already been booked by customers, which can only meet half of the needs of customers.
Under the high demand for semiconductors, the wafer foundry capacity has been in short supply in the past two years, and the price and volume have risen, ushering in a new wave of industry prosperity; while the tight production capacity has not eased, coupled with optimism regarding the continued growth of semiconductor demand in the future, wafer Yuan foundries have successively expanded their production to meet the huge customer demand.
Judging from the capital expenditures and plant construction plans released by various wafer foundries, the peak period of mature process production capacity will begin in 2023. In particular, the 28nm process is the focus of various manufacturers to expand production, and future competition may be more intense. The fierceness has also caused the market to doubt that the industry may be oversupplied; UMC recently said at the French conference that “the production capacity of the 28nm process in 2023 may be oversupplied”, making the market attitude more conservative.
However, industry insiders pointed out that UMC’s production capacity in 2023 has already been booked by customers, and it can only meet half of the demand. The customer’s continued strong demand for 28nm and other processes has become one of the reasons for its decision to build a factory in Singapore.
Industry insiders also said that UMC had negotiated orders with customers three months before the announcement of the construction of the new plant, and adopted the same long-term contract model as Nanke’s expansion of the factory. To ensure the amount of film cast during the period, the advance payment can be taken back.
Phison (8299-TW) also said a few days ago that although the market has oversupplied the foundry capacity, the company has sought more production capacity from the two major foundries, saying that it will still not be able to meet the demand next year. Especially 28/40 nm; IC design house Duntai (3545-TW) also bluntly stated that 28/40 nm capacity is still relatively scarce.
Although UMC took the first shot and believed that the 28-nanometer process capacity may be oversupplied in 2023, which intensified the market’s divided views on the prospect of wafer foundry, UMC also indicated at the time that 28-nanometer is a sweet spot for many applications, and demand Will continue to grow, the oversupply situation is relatively slight, and UMC’s 28nm coverage rate of regarding 80% is expected to maintain high growth.
