Growth in semiconductor foundry sales slowed in 2015 amid a decline in overall semiconductor sales, according to market research firm Gartner Inc.

Total foundry sales amounted to $48.8 billion in 2015, an increase of just 4.4% over 2014, according to Gartner (Stamford, Conn.). Foundry sales were only able to achieve cumulative growth at all because of high wafer demand from Apple Inc. and revenue from a handful of integrated device manufacturers that also do foundry work, Gartner said.

Foundry sales had grown consistently by double-digit percentages in the years leading up to last year, according to Gartner. In 2014, the foundry market grew by 16%.

Gartner estimates that total semiconductor sales declined by 2.3% in 2015 to settle at $334.8 billion. The firm attributes the decline to excess IC inventory, poor demand for mobile products and PCs and slowing tablet sales.

"The slowdown in the device market has driven semiconductor producers to be conservative in placing wafer orders to foundries,” said Samuel Wang, research vice president at Gartner, in a statement.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), far and away the largest foundry player, grew sales by 5.5% last year due to the success of 20nm planar and 16nm FinFET technologies used for leading-edge application processors and baseband chips, Gartner said.

U.S.-based foundry Globalfoundries leapfrogged rival United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) and reclaim the No. 2 position in foundry sales in 2015, Gartner said. Globalfoundries (Sunnyvale, Calif.) captured some 9.6% of the market, compared with 9.3% for UMC, Gartner said.

Gartner said price competition among foundries was strong in 2015, not only at the 28nm node but also the 40nm and 65nm nodes. While 200mm fabs remain bustling, low utilization rates at 300mm fabs compelled foundries to run more 0.18-micron wafers in them, the firm added.

Gartner said foundry revenue exhibited an unusual pattern of seasonality in 2015. “The normal seasonal pattern of a very strong second quarter was not obvious, while most foundries continued to revise their business outlook during each quarter's earnings release," Wang said. "The peak inventory level for the semiconductor industry continued to push out during 2015, from the second quarter to the third quarter, and through the rest of the year."

By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved