Robust Demand for Solar Grade Silicon Drives Demand for Silicon Reclaim Wafers, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

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Silicon Reclaim Wafers: A Global Strategic Business Report

San Jose, California (PRWEB) March 07, 2014

With computer technology integrated into the very fabric of modern life, silicon wafers find an almost sacrosanct application in electronic circuitry of computational devices. Silicon has over the years revolutionized the way semiconductor components are designed, manufactured and built. Silicon wafers are used extensively in semiconductors industry and today forms the foundation of all electronics components. Defined as finely sliced disks of silicon, silicon wafer is an indispensable chemical element that represents the core of an integrated circuit. The ubiquity of microchips and electronic devices makes silicon wafers simply indispensable as a sophisticated material technology of critical importance to modern microelectronics and optoelectronics.

Growth in the global silicon wafer market is directly proportional to the health of the semiconductor industry, which in turn is influenced by demand patterns in the electronics industry. With almost all electronic products using integrated circuits, the semiconductor industry typically has a huge demand for raw silicon. As the fundamental building block for semiconductors, silicon wafer shipments in the coming years are poised to witness sturdy growth given the growing demand for electronic products including computers, telecommunication products, and consumer, automotive and industrial electronics.

Two of the major challenges currently faced by the semiconductor industry are severe cost pressures and constrained profitability. Key factors fuelling cost pressures in the industry include escalating energy prices, increasing cost of conformance to environmental regulations, undeterred rise in labor and raw material prices, and unfavorable currency fluctuations among others. The constant pressure on chip manufacturers to develop smaller, superior yet cheaper microchips coupled with the increasing price sensitivity of end-user markets additionally exerts significant pressure on corporate profitability. Against this backdrop, silicon reclaim wafers defined as recycled and processed used test and prime wafers are growing in popularity and demand.

With semiconductor manufacturers focusing on cost reductions, reclaimed silicon wafers are forecast to pose stiff competition to virgin test wafers in the coming years. Given the expected continuous increase in OPEX in the semiconductor and wafer fabrication industry, the cost benefit offered by silicon reclaim wafers is expected to gain increasing prominence over the coming years. With silicon wafers accounting for a significant portion of the overall cost of fabrication materials in the semiconductor industry, cost-effective reclaimed silicon wafers hold massive potential to significantly drive down costs and improve profitability of chip fabrication companies. Pricing and margin pressure in the semiconductor industry therefore provides a fertile environment for the growth of silicon wafer reclamation.

Also poised to drive demand is the increasing use of reclaim wafers in manufacturing solar panels and photovoltaic cells. Growing investments in the solar energy industry worldwide is forecast to generate market opportunities for reclaimed wafers as technology developments enable the use of scrap wafers in the manufacture of high-performance solar cells. With the semiconductor industry rejecting over 2.0 million wafers annually, the opportunity to reclaim these wafers is immense. Worsening supply of solar grade virgin polysilicon and chronic storages is additionally throwing the emphasis on semiconductor grade recycled silicon. Reclaimed silicon wafers are expected to help drive down the cost of traditional solar grade polysilicon feedstock (SGPF) thus promising to eliminate the biggest obstacle impeding mass production of photovoltaic cells.

As stated by the new market research report on Silicon Reclaim Wafers, Asia-Pacific represents the largest market worldwide led by Taiwan. Chronic disruptions in Japan are fracturing the global supply chain and throwing up long-term risks and concerns over the resilience of supply chains. The resulting supply shortage induced price rises and narrowing of profit margins, is resulting in the shift in silicon wafer production to alternate markets such as Taiwan, Thailand and China. The risk of degradation posed by persistent disruption that inhibits supply chain efficiency has therefore resulted in Taiwan emerging as the dominant market for reclaimed silicon wafers.

Major players covered in the report include Advantec Co Ltd., KST World Corp., MOSPEC Semiconductor Corporation, North East Silicon Technologies, Inc., Pure Wafer PLC, Phoenix Silicon International Corporation (PSI), Rockwood Wafer Reclaim SAS., RS Technologies Co., LTD, Silicon, Inc., Scientech Corporation, Si Wave Corporation (SWC), SUMCO CORPORATION , Silicon Valley Microelectronics, Inc. , Valqua FFT Inc., and WRS Materials, among others.

The research report titled “Silicon Reclaim Wafers: A Global Strategic Business Report”, announced by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., provides a comprehensive review of market trends, issues, drivers, mergers, acquisitions and other strategic industry activities of major companies worldwide. The report provides market estimates and projections in US dollars for all major geographic markets including the United States, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific (China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Rest of Asia-Pacific) and Rest of World.

For more details about this comprehensive market research report, please visit –
http://www.strategyr.com/Silicon_Reclaim_Wafers_Market_Report.asp.

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (GIA) is a leading publisher of off-the-shelf market research. Founded in 1987, the company currently employs over 800 people worldwide. Annually, GIA publishes more than 1300 full-scale research reports and analyzes 40,000+ market and technology trends while monitoring more than 126,000 Companies worldwide. Serving over 9500 clients in 27 countries, GIA is recognized today, as one of the world's largest and reputed market research firms.

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Telephone: 408-528-9966
Fax: 408-528-9977
Email: press(at)StrategyR(dot)com
Web Site: http://www.StrategyR.com/

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