Wafer Capacity
Market research firm IC Insights said on March 10 that Korea accounted for 21.1 percent of the global semiconductor wafer capacity in December last year, whereas Taiwan and Japan took up 19.4 percent and 18.3 percent, respectively. In December 2010, Japan had topped the list by recording 22.0 percent, followed by Taiwan (21.5 percent) and Korea (15.2 percent). The three Asian countries were followed by North America (15.1 percent) and China (9.2 percent).
The firm’s survey is based on the capacity of 200 mm wafers. At present, most semiconductor plants use 300 mm wafers. A wafer is a thin silicon plate used for semiconductor manufacturing. The wafer capacity is a yardstick for measuring how many semiconductor memory devices and the like can be integrated onto the plate. In other words, the wafer capacity can be compared to the fab capacity.