Wafer shipments are projected to rise steadily until 2019.

The Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) announced its forecast for global silicon wafer area shipments from 2017 to 2019.

Polished and epitaxial wafer area shipments were projected to reach 11.448 billion square inches in 2017, 11.814 billion square inches in 2018, and 12.235 billion square inches in 2019. Wafer shipments this year are expected to surpass the record high set in 2016, and are projected to break records in 2018 and 2019 as well.

Dan Tracy, Senior Director of Industry Research & Statistics (IR&S) at SEMI, stated, “We expect silicon wafer shipments to reach record highs this year and forecast that they will surpass that again in 2019. We anticipate steady annual growth driven by the surge in connected devices required for automotive, medical, wearable, and high-performance computing applications.”

Silicon wafers are the fundamental material for semiconductors and are core components of almost all electronic devices, including computers, telecommunications products, and consumer electronics. These thin, circular disc-shaped silicon wafers, which require advanced technology, are manufactured in various sizes (diameters ranging from 1 inch to 12 inches) and are used as substrate materials for the fabrication of most semiconductor devices and chips.