NEW TRIPOLI, Pa. -- Despite an aggressive push in China to add chip-making capacity, the country's wafer fabs will still greatly lag the demand for ICs in domestic markets by the middle of this decade, said a new report from The Information Network here.
The research firm predicts that only 23% of the semiconductors needed in China will be produced by the country's wafer fabs in four years. The strong growth in chip demand will outpace China's fab expansion efforts, concluded the report. In 2000, China was producing 27% of its semiconductors--or about 5.9 billion devices, the report said.
"The semiconductor industry in mainland China is positioned for explosive growth in fab construction, leading to tremendous opportunities for semiconductor equipment and materials suppliers," according to The Information Network. "In China's Tenth five-year development plan, 25 new advanced fabs are earmarked."
The report concludes that China's semiconductor equipment market will grow nearly 30% per year through 2005 from less than $500 million in 2000.
