The market will grow to 13.2 billion US dollars in the next 10 years, and silicon wafer manufacturers increase investment in production facilities

According to businesskorea, wafer companies continue to invest in production facilities amid the deteriorating environment in the semiconductor industry.

SK Siltron plans to invest a total of 2.3 trillion won by 2026. The purpose of the investment is to expand the facility in Gumi by 42,716 square meters. It is reported that SK Siltron's investment in March this year exceeded 1 trillion won, last month's investment reached 855 billion won, and next year's investment will reach 400 billion won.

In addition, SK Siltron and IQE recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly develop GaN wafers. The wafer is used to manufacture chips for electric vehicles, communication equipment, IT equipment, etc.

SK Siltron is the only semiconductor wafer manufacturer in South Korea under the SK Group, and is currently the fifth largest silicon wafer manufacturer in the world. Currently, the company produces SiC wafers in South Korea and the United States, and is also developing GaN wafers.

Taiwan-based GlobalWafers, the industry's third-largest company, will begin building a U.S. factory next month. GlobalWafers' factory in Texas, USA, plans to invest $5 billion and start production in 2025. The company expects to produce 1.2 million 12-inch wafers per month.

According to market research agencies, the global silicon wafer market will grow from $5.4 billion to $13.2 billion from 2021 to 2031. Global trends such as digitization, Internet of Things, and autonomous driving are predicted to lead the growth of the industry.