Analyst: More than 30 semiconductor fabs to close this year

Posted on Monday, July 20 2009 @ 9:00 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Christian Gregor Dieseldorff, senior analyst and director of market research for the SEMI trade group, claims more than 30 semiconductor fabs will shut their doors this year due to oversupply, and an additional 16 in 2010.
In 2002, during the last major semiconductor industry downturn, more than 60 fabs were closed, Dieseldorff said.

Most of the 2009 cab closures are logic fabs, according to Dieseldorff. Seven belonged to memory chip makers, some of which have closed fabs to combat overcapacity while others have gone out of business. Most of the discarded fabs used 200-mm or smaller wafers.

Mainly as the result of the fab closures, overall installed capacity for 2009 may decline by almost 3 percent to about 15 million wafers per month, Dieseldorff said. Installed capacity for 2010 is expected to increase by 4 to 5 percent to roughly 16 million wafers per month as some fabs come online or continue to ramp production, according to Dieseldorff.

Dieseldorff said he expects about 16 fabs to close their doors in 2010.
More info at EE Times.


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Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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