Milpitas, Calif., April 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today announced that after several years of incremental increases the worldwide semiconductor photomask market surged 13 percent to a record high $3.75 billion in 2017 and is forecast to exceed $4.0 billion in 2019. The mask market is expected to grow 5 percent and 4 percent in 2018 and 2019, respectively, according to the SEMI report. Key photomask market drivers remain advanced technology feature sizes (less than 45nm) and Asia-Pacific manufacturing growth. Taiwan is again the largest photomask regional market for the seventh year in a row and is expected to retain the top spot for the duration of the forecast. Korea rose in the rankings to claim the second spot.

With the $3.75 billion in revenues, photomasks accounted for 13 percent of the total wafer fabrication materials market, behind silicon and semiconductor gases, in 2017. By comparison, SEMI reports that photomasks represented 18 percent of the total wafer fabrication materials market in 2003. Reflecting their growing importance, captive mask shops, aided by intense capital expenditures in 2011 and 2012, continue to gain market share at merchant suppliers’ expense. Captive mask suppliers accounted for 65 percent of the total photomask market last year, up from 63 percent in 2016. In 2013, captive mask shops represented 31 percent of the photomask market.

The recently published SEMI report, 2017 Photomask Characterization Summary, provides details on the 2017 Photomask Market for seven regions of the world including North America, Japan, Europe, Taiwan, Korea, China, and Rest of World. The report also includes data for each of these regions from 2003 to 2019 and summarizes lithography developments over the past year.

About SEMI

SEMI® connects over 2,000 member companies and 1.3 million professionals worldwide to advance the technology and business of electronics manufacturing. SEMI members are responsible for the innovations in materials, design, equipment, software, devices, and services that enable smarter, faster, more powerful, and more affordable electronic products. FlexTech, the Fab Owners Alliance (FOA) and the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) are SEMI Strategic Association Partners, defined communities within SEMI focused on specific technologies. Since 1970, SEMI has built connections that have helped its members prosper, create new markets, and address common industry challenges together. SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley (Milpitas, Calif.), Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C.  For more information, visit  www.semi.org and follow SEMI on  LinkedIn and  Twitter.

Michael Hall
SEMI
(408) 943-7988
mhall@semi.org

Lara Chamness
SEMI
(408) 943-7982
lchamness@semi.org