Worldwide silicon wafer shipments increased by 13.1% year-on-year (YoY) to 3,275 million square inches (MSI) in the first quarter of 2026, from the 2,896 MSI recorded during the same quarter of 2025, according to the latest quarterly analysis of the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG).

Sequentially, shipments declined by 4.7% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) from the 3,437 MSI recorded during the fourth quarter of 2025 in line with typical seasonality.

“Silicon wafer demand related to AI data centers continues to be strong, including advanced logic and memory, and also now extending to power management devices,” said Ginji Yada, Chairman of SEMI SMG and Managing Executive Officer, General Manager, Sales and Marketing Division at SUMCO Corp. “Overall, silicon wafer demand has improved, but the recovery is not uniform. Many device companies have noted improvements in the industrial semiconductor segment, and this is creating a more broad-based recovery as wafer inventory is absorbed. Weaker smartphone and PC shipments in the first quarter of this year may show the impact of tighter supply of memory due to AI high bandwidth memory (HBM) allocation decisions.”

Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for the majority of semiconductors, which are vital components of all electronic devices. The highly engineered thin disks are produced in diameters of up to 300 mm and serve as the substrate material on which most semiconductors are fabricated.

The SMG is a sub-committee of the SEMI Electronic Materials Group (EMG) and is open to SEMI members involved in manufacturing polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon or silicon wafers (e.g., as cut, polished, epitaxial). The SMG facilitates collective efforts on issues related to the silicon industry, including the development of statistics about the silicon industry.

By: DocMemory
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