It was analyzed that investment in 300mm fabs will continue to increase every year due to the growing demand for analog and power semiconductors and foundries.

According to the 300mm Fab Outlook report released by SEMI on the 28th, the production capacity of 300mm fabs is expected to reach an all-time high of 9.6 million wafers per month in 2026.

Growth is expected to slow somewhat this year due to weak demand for memory and logic semiconductors, but continued growth is anticipated until 2026.

“300mm fab production capacity will continue to grow to meet sustained market demand, with the foundry, memory, and power semiconductor sectors being cited as key drivers of growth,” said Ajit Manocha, CEO of SEMI.

Chipmakers expected to expand their 300mm fab production capacity between 2022 and 2026 include GlobalFoundries, Huahong, Infineon, Intel, Kioxia, Micron, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, SMIC, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, TSMC, and UMC. These companies are projected to operate 82 new production facilities between 2023 and 2026.

Amid U.S. export controls, China is expected to concentrate government-level investment to expand the production capacity of 300mm full-process fabs for advanced nodes. Production capacity share is expected to expand from 22% in 2022 to 25% in 2026, reaching 2.4 million wafers per month.

Korea's share of global 300mm fab production capacity is projected to fall from 25% to 23% between 2022 and 2026 due to sluggish demand in the memory market.

Taiwan is expected to maintain third place with its market share falling slightly from 22% to 21% during the same period, and Japan's fab production capacity share is also projected to fall slightly from 13% last year to 12% in 2026.

Driven by strong demand in the automotive semiconductor sector and government investment in each region, North America, Europe, and the Middle East are expected to see an increase in their share of 300mm fab production capacity from 2022 to 2026. North America is projected to rise by 0.2% to 9% during the same period, while Europe and the Middle East are expected to increase from 6% to 7%. Southeast Asia is expected to maintain a 4% share of 300mm capacity during the same period.

From 2022 to 2026, the analog and power semiconductor sectors are projected to grow at an average annual rate of 30%, outpacing other sectors, followed by foundry at 12%, optical semiconductors at 6%, and memory at 4%.