August 22, 2023 /SemiMedia/ -- According to reports, the spot price of silicon wafers began to fall in the first half of 2023, and continued to decline in the second half of the year. Due to weak demand and the release of new fabs around the world, industry insiders believe that the oversupply may be extended to 2025 .

The sluggish demand in the silicon wafer industry is mainly due to the continued sluggish demand for consumer electronics and the negative attitude of major fabs to the outlook for the third quarter. In addition, memory chip manufacturers are still in the production reduction cycle, and the inventories of major fabs and storage makers continue to hit record highs.

The report pointed out that the world's top five wafer suppliers SEH, Sumco, Global Wafers, Siltronic and SK Siltron have all announced new investment expansion plans, and expansion projects are being put into production one after another, which will lead to continuous growth in production capacity. Depending on market conditions and the status of long-term supply agreements, suppliers are expected to increase capacity further beyond 2025.