After soaring 22.3% on year to hit a 7-year annual high of US$420 billion in 2017, the global semiconductor revenues will enter a new round of growth mainly driven by AI and 5G technologies and applications and may challenge US$500 billion in the foreseeable future. And revenues from diverse semiconductor segments are expected to see a more balanced growth in 2018 although a double-digit overall growth would be a little hard to achieve, according to Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI.

Manocha made the statement when meeting the press in Shanghai during the closing day of SEMICON China 2018 on March 16. He said the global semiconductor industry will embrace more growth momentums in the eras of IoT, AI, 5G and quantum technology applications, with terminal markets experiencing increasingly diverse and distributed traits such as those seen in smart vehicles, smart cities, smart healthcare, AR/VR, and more.

Clearing '4T' barriers

Manocha stressed that as a 48-year veteran organization, SEMI plans to set up think tanks in Europe, Asia and the US to draw SEMI 2.0 blueprints for its next stage of development, shedding lights on future technological roadmaps, business models, changes in development trends for the global semiconductor industry

In addition, he continued, SEMI will also move to lobby related governments to clear unnecessary barriers to "4T" - trade, tax, talent and technology investment - facing the global semiconductor industry.

Manocha also indicated that it is now the best moment for the development of the semiconductor industry in China. He continued that China demand for semiconductor and sensing components from the automotive electronics segment will pick up significantly, and the strong demand for diverse IoT chips involving less advanced fabrication technology will bring substantial orders for mature process nodes.

SEMI statistics show that China will see an estimated demand of US$13 billion for semiconductor equipment in 2018, replacing Taiwan as the second largest market for such equipment, next to only South Korea. Demand from wafer fabs run by China-based firms will reach US$6.3 billion, almost the same as the sum for foreign company-invested fabs in the country.

Largest IC market

At the press conference, Lung Chu, president of SEMI China, also noted that China is now the largest IC market in the world, with its annual IC imports exceeding crude oil imports, and therefore it is highly imperative for China to develop its own semiconductor industry. But while China is seeing its semiconductor efforts gradually paying off in recent years, some international semiconductor players have taken counteractions, seeking to contain China's semiconductor technological development, Chu lamented.

Chu said that as the largest international platform for the semiconductor industry, SEMI will continue to help China semiconductor firms enhance communication and cooperation with foreign counterparts, so as to facilitate their integration into the global semiconductor ecosystems as soon as possible.

Chu disclosed that SEMI China set up a Semiconductor Industry Innovation Platform (SIIP) in the country in 2017, aiming to serve as a bridge for cooperation between China semiconductor players and potential international partners in the fields of funding, talent and technology development. SIIP now has many heavyweight advisers including Ding Wenbin, president of China's National IC Industry Investment Fund (Big Fund); and Wei Shaojun, director of Tsinghua University Institute of Microelectronics.

By: DocMemory
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