Electronics industry association SEMI said Tuesday (Nov. 4, California, United States) that worldwide silicon wafer shipments increased 3.1 percent year-on-year to 3,313 million square inches (MSI) from 3,214 MSI in the same quarter of 2024.

Incidentally, the first three quarters of the year also showed robust growth with total 9,536 MSI compared with the same period in 2024 to 9,083 MSI, growing 5 percent.

SEMI, through its Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG), credited the significant growth with the increase in 300mm shipments. Particularly, fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) to support advanced logic, cloud computing, and memory applications.

“January through September silicon shipments registered a significant year-on-year increase primarily driven by the growth of 300 mm shipments for advanced logic, cloud infrastructure, and memory demand,” said Lee Chungwei (李崇偉), Chairman of SEMI SMG and Vice President and Chief Auditor at GlobalWafers. “AI empowers significant investments expansion in advanced processes contributing to the wafer demand growth.”

AI-Related Growth

The 3Q results supported the forecast released by SEMI last week stating global shipments of silicon wafers will increase 5.4 percent for full-year 2025 to 12,824 MSI. Moreover, it also said a steady growth through 2028 when the market is likely to reach a new industry record of 15,485 MSI.

In 2025, the increase in silicon wafer shipments has been supported by strong AI-related growth, including advanced epitaxial wafers for leading edge logic devices and polished wafers for high bandwidth memory (HBM). Wafer shipments for non-AI applications, however, are just beginning to demonstrate a gradual recovery from the recent downcycle. The steady growth is expected to continue through 2028, driven by AI’s expanding compute footprint in data centers and at the edge.

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.

05 November 2025