Wafer demand for ‘More than Moore’ devices to grow by 10%

Wafer demand for ‘More than Moore’ (MtM) devices is expected to grow by 10% between 2017 and 2023, Yole Développement, the market research and strategy consulting company, reports.

Driven by the adoption of evermore electronic components in end products, the semiconductor industry is facing a new era, Yole claims. Device scaling and cost reduction will no longer continue on the path followed for the past few decades. Instead, semiconductor companies are seeking solutions that bridge the gap between cost and performance, whilst adding increased functionality through integration.

MtM devices (including MEMS & sensors, CMOS Image Sensors, power electronic, along with RF devices) represent this functional diversification of technologies, the report continues, combining performance, integration and cost - not limited to CMOS scaling. And their importance, Yole predicts, will become greater.

MtM devices reached almost 45million 8-inch eq wafers in 2017 and the demand is anticipated to reach more than 66m 8-inch eq wafers by 2023.

According to the report, 6-inch and 8-inch are forecast to represent more than 60% of MtM wafers' total wafer consumption. However, Yole says 12-inch will represent the fastest growth between 2017 and 2023, with demand growing from 3.3m units to 7.5m by 2023. This is due mainly to Backside Illumination CMOS Image Sensors (BSI CIS) (3D stacked BSI, 3D hybrid BSI), Yole adds.

Currently, 4-inch wafer diameter is in large demand for MtM applications driven by RF Surface Acoustic Wave filter products. However, Yole says the adoption of this wafer will decrease due to a transition to 6-inch.

Despite silicon's dominance in the semiconductor area (80% market share), alternative substrates, such asSiGe, GaAs, GaN, and SiC,are disrupting the MtM market.

Yole suggests that the ‘megatrend’ market is driving the MtM wafer volume evolution. These megatrends include 5G, mobile, voice processing, smart automotive, augmented reality/virtual reality, and artificial intelligence.

Driven by the increasing deployment of renewable energy sources (principally solar energy inverters) and industrial motor drives, as well as the growing electric and hybrid vehicles (EV/HEVs) automotive industry, power devices’, Yole anticipates the wafer market size to grow at an almost 13% CAGR between 2017 and 2023.