Global semiconductor materials market revenues edged down 1.1 percent in 2019, SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, reported today in its Materials Market Data Subscription (MMDS).
While worldwide total wafer fabrication materials logged a slight decrease of 0.4 percent, from $33.0 billion to $32.8 billion, wafer fab materials, process chemicals, sputtering targets, and CMP registered declines of more than 2 percent year-over-year (YoY). Packaging materials slipped 2.3 percent, from $19.7 billion to $19.2 billion, in 2019. The only two categories to notch increases last year were substrate and other packaging materials.
For the 10th consecutive year, Taiwan, at $11.3 billion, was the largest consumer of semiconductor materials on the strength of its large foundry and advanced packaging base. Korea remained in the second spot, while, China, the only materials market to register an increase in 2019, was third. All other regions saw flat revenue or low single-digit declines.
2018 and 2019 Regional Semiconductor Materials Markets (US$ Billions)
| Region | 2018** | 2019 | % Change |
| Taiwan | 11.62 | 11.34 | -2.4% |
| South Korea | 8.94 | 8.83 | -1.3% |
| China | 8.52 | 8.69 | 1.9% |
| Japan | 7.80 | 7.70 | -1.3% |
| Rest of World* | 6.21 | 6.05 | -2.6% |
| North America | 5.73 | 5.62 | -1.8% |
| Europe | 3.89 | 3.89 | 0% |
| Total | 52.73 | 52.14 | -1.1% |
Source: SEMI, March 2020
Note: Summed subtotals may not equal the total due to rounding.
* The ROW region is defined as Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, other areas of Southeast Asia and smaller global markets.
** 2018 data have been updated based on SEMI data collection programs.
The SEMI Materials Market Data Subscription (MMDS) provides current revenue data along with seven years of historical data and a two-year forecast. The annual subscription includes four quarterly updates for the materials segment and reports revenue for seven market regions (North America, Europe, ROW, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China). The report also features detailed historical data for silicon shipments and revenues for photoresist, photoresist ancillaries, process gases and leadframes.