Fab capacity use reaches 95.6%

Semiconductor manufacturing capacity was at close to 100 percent utilization for most leading-edge nodes in Q2 2010, reports the Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS) organization. The group also said that the industry's total manufacturing capacity stayed approximately constant in Q2 despite a significant increase in manufacturing capacity by foundries.

Worldwide wafer fab capacity utilization hit 95.6 percent in the Q2 2010, up from 93.5 percent in Q1 2010, according to SICAS, which collects production statistics from around the world on behalf of the industry. The industry's total capacity was 2.126 million 200mm equivalent wafer starts per week, up by 0.9 percent sequentially but down 0.2 percent compared with Q2 2009.

Production of older process technologies above 100nm and production on 200mm wafers had risen to close to 90 percent and leading-edge CMOS production below 100nm and production on 300mm diameter wafers was at 95 to 98 percent. At the 90-, 65- and sub-60nm nodes it was 94.6, 98.8 and 98.6 percent respectively. This was despite an increase in manufacturing capacity at foundries.

Foundry manufacturing capacity was 407,000 wafer starts per week, up 5.9 percent sequentially and up 41.2 percent compared with a year before. Wafer starts increased by 10.6 percent sequentially and 67.8 percent compared with Q2 2009 with the result that foundry manufacturing capacity hit 98.8 percent. Only a year before foundry capacity utilization had been at 83.1 percent and the quarter before that at 50.1 percent.

Manufacturing on 300mm wafers reached 98.4 percent capacity utilization, up from 96.9 percent in the first quarter, despite a substantial increase in production capacity.

Bill Jewell of Semiconductor Intelligence LLC said he expects IC capacity utilization to increase through the rest of 2010, from 95.6 percent in Q2 2010 to 96 percent in Q4 2010.

- Peter Clarke
EE Times