According to a lastest report, from SEMI, worldwide 200mm semiconductor wafer fab capacity is forecast at 5.2 million wafer starts per month (wspm) in 2015 and expanding to 5.4 million wspm in 2018.
Based on the rapidly increasing number of internet-enabled mobile devices and the emergence of the IoT (Internet of Things), demand for sensors, MEMS, analog, power and related semiconductor devices is growing. While these devices are critical to enable the new era of computing, the applications do not require leading-edge manufacturing capability, and this demand is "breathing new life" into 200mm fabs.
In this report, SEMI covers nearly 200 facilities using 200mm wafers, including facilities that are planned, under construction, installing new equipment, active, closing or closed, and fabs changing wafer size to and from 200mm.
