At this year’s Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) 2022 that took place early April, SEMI reported that the global chip industry was demonstrating extraordinary growth boosted by the digitization of global economies and a surge in semiconductor demand. According to the latest forecasts, the semiconductor market is on track to reach $1 trillion by 2030 – despite global issues such as workforce shortages, inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions, and ongoing supply chain challenges.
New fab construction investments from 2021 to 2023 are also reaching historic highs, with spending increasing by 14% to nearly $26 billion in 2022 alone. Twenty-eight new volume fabs are starting construction in 2022, including 23 300mm fabs and five fabs dedicated to 200mm and below. SEMI’s World Fab Forecast projects 300mm capacity growing by 11% in 2022 and by 8% in 2023, while 200mm capacity is expected to increase by 5% and by 3% in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
A great example of these new fabs is Wolfspeed’s 200mm silicon carbide (SiC) manufacturing facility, freshly inaugurated on April 25th after two years of intense construction – a $1 billion investment that will bring over 600 jobs to the region. ATREG worked closely with Mohawk Valley EDGE and Empire State Development to bring the semiconductor powerhouse to the Marcy Nanocenter located on the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute campus in Oneida County. The world’s first, largest, and only 200mm SiC fab – a significant step in bolstering the U.S. supply chain for advanced manufacturing and semiconductors – will support growing electric vehicle, 4G and 5G mobile, and industrial markets.
