Total silicon wafer area shipments were 2,858 million square inches during the most recent quarter, a 3.4 percent increase from the 2,764 million square inches shipped during the previous quarter. New quarterly total area shipments are 12.6 percent higher than first quarter 2016 shipments and are at their highest recorded quarterly level.

"Global silicon wafer volume shipments for the first quarter defied typical seasonal weakening," said Chungwei (C.W.) Lee (???), chairman of SEMI SMG and spokesman, VP, Corporate Development & chief auditor of GlobalWafers (????). "Continued growth on top of previous record quarterly shipments have resulted in another record level of silicon shipped."

Silicon* Area Shipment Trends

*Semiconductor applications only

Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for semiconductors, which in turn, are vital components of virtually all electronics goods, including computers, telecommunications products, and consumer electronics. The highly engineered thin round disks are produced in various diameters (from one inch to 12 inches) and serve as the substrate material on which most semiconductor devices or "chips" are fabricated.

All data cited in this release is inclusive of polished silicon wafers, including virgin test wafers and epitaxial silicon wafers, as well as non-polished silicon wafers shipped by the wafer manufacturers to the end-users.

The  Silicon Manufacturers Group acts as an independent special interest group within the SEMI structure and is open to SEMI members involved in manufacturing polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon or silicon wafers (e.g., as cut, polished, epi, etc.). The purpose of the group is to facilitate collective efforts on issues related to the silicon industry including the development of market information and statistics about the silicon industry and the semiconductor market.