Posted on Friday, March 09 2018 @ 18:05 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
EE Times reports the number of semiconductor production fabs was 475 at the end of 2017. That's down from 536 in 2007, mainly because of the closure of a lot of older 150mm and 200mm plants. Since 2009, 104 fabs have closed or repurposed, while 43 new fabs came online.
Earlier this month, market research firm IC Insights reported that chip makers worldwide have closed or repurposed 92 wafer fabs, 90 percent of which utilized 200mm or smaller wafers. Of the 92 fabs closed, 41 percent were 150mm fabs and 26 percent were 200mm fabs, according to the firm's Global Wafer Capacity report.
More details
at EE Times.
