Worldwide Silicon Wafer Shipments Increase 13.4% Year-on-Year in Q3 2026

SILICON WAFER Worldwide Silicon Wafer Shipments Increase 13.4% Year-on-Year in Q3 2026

2026-11-12 From SEMI 1 min Reading Time

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The SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported today, in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry, that worldwide silicon wafer shipments increased 13.4% year-on-year to 3,756 million square inches (MSI) from the 3,313 MSI recorded during the same quarter of 2025.

Worldwide silicon wafer shipments reached 3,756 million square inches in Q3 2026, up 13.4% year on year and 5.1% from the previous quarter, according to SEMI.(Source: © fotofabrika - stock.adobe.com) — Worldwide silicon wafer shipments reached 3,756 million square inches in Q3 2026, up 13.4% year on year and 5.1% from the previous quarter, according to SEMI.
(Source: © fotofabrika - stock.adobe.com)

Shipments increased 5.1% quarter-over-quarter from the 3,573 MSI recorded during the second quarter of 2026.

“Silicon wafer shipments increased in the third quarter, supported by strong AI-related demand and improving industrial demand,” said Masatsugu Miura, Chairman of SEMI SMG and General Manager of Sales & Marketing Department of Sales & Marketing Division at SUMCO Corporation. “AI-related demand continued to broaden beyond advanced logic and memory to include power devices and photonics. Industrial demand strengthened, supported by robotics, AI server power supplies and improving demand for general-purpose industrial semiconductors. Bonding and advanced packaging applications also continued to support demand for 300mm polished wafers.”

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.

The SMG is a sub-committee of the SEMI Electronic Materials Group (EMG) and is open to SEMI members involved in manufacturing polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon or silicon wafers (e.g., as cut, polished, epitaxial). The SMG facilitates collective efforts on issues related to the silicon industry, including the development of statistics about the silicon industry.

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