By wafer size, according to IC Insights, 150mm wafers was in diameter and smaller, Japan was the top region in terms of the amount of capacity. The fabs running small size wafers tend to be older and typically process low-complexity, commodity type products or specialized devices.

The capacity leaders for 200mm wafers were Taiwan and Japan. There have been many 200mm fabs closed over the past several years, but not in Taiwan and that resulted in the country becoming the largest source of 200mm capacity beginning in 2012.

With Taiwan being home to most of the IC industry’s foundry capacity, the country’s share of 200mm capacity will likely rise further in the coming years.

For 300mm wafers, South Korea was at the forefront, followed by Taiwan. Taiwan lost its position as the leading supplier of 300mm wafer capacity in 2013.

That was in large part because ProMOS closed its large 300mm fabs, but it was also due to Samsung and SK Hynix continuing to expand their fabs in South Korea to support their high-volume DRAM and flash businesses.