Silicon wafer shipments rise 7.4% globally

Worldwide silicon wafer shipments increased by 7.4% year on year during the second quarter of 2026 as demand associated with artificial intelligence spread into a broader range of semiconductor markets.

SEMI recorded shipments of 3,573 million square inches between April and June, compared with 3,327 million square inches in the same quarter of 2025. Volumes also rose by 9.1% from the 3,275 million square inches shipped during the first quarter of 2026.

The figures cover polished silicon wafers supplied to semiconductor manufacturers, including virgin test wafers and epitaxial silicon, as well as polished and non polished wafers shipped to end users. Because the measure records substrate area entering fabrication rather than the value of completed devices, it provides an early indication of activity across a wide section of the manufacturing chain.

AI infrastructure remains the principal source of momentum, although the resulting demand now extends beyond leading edge logic processors and high performance memory. Data centre expansion also requires power conversion devices, optical communications components, networking silicon, timing devices, and the analogue and control electronics used throughout increasingly dense computing systems.

Industrial and automotive semiconductor demand improved during the quarter after both sectors spent an extended period reducing inventories accumulated during and after the component shortages. That correction affected mature node logic, microcontrollers, analogue devices, and power semiconductors, so rising wafer consumption suggests that orders are beginning to align more closely with underlying production requirements.

Conditions remain less consistent in consumer markets, where pressure on memory pricing and uneven personal computer and smartphone demand continue to constrain some high volume categories. The resulting recovery varies by wafer diameter, process technology, device type, and end market rather than lifting the industry uniformly.

Recovery broadens across manufacturing

Higher wafer volumes are appearing alongside renewed investment among semiconductor equipment and materials suppliers. Stronger advanced node and memory demand has already contributed to an improved outlook at ASML, where lithography orders reflect continued capacity expansion, while deposition, metrology, and packaging suppliers are also preparing for growth in photonics, power, and compound semiconductor production.

Wafer area cannot be read as a direct proxy for semiconductor revenue. Device prices, factory utilisation, process complexity, die size, and product mix determine the commercial value produced from each square inch, with a mature node power device and an advanced processor demanding very different capital investment despite using the same underlying substrate material.

Even so, the second quarter figures indicate that growth is becoming less dependent on a narrow group of accelerator programmes. Power devices are required from the grid connection and uninterruptible power supply through rack level conversion and board mounted voltage regulation, while optical links add demand for photodiodes, drivers, amplifiers, and control devices. Network switches, interfaces, and timing components create another layer of silicon consumption around each computing cluster.

This wider pattern is particularly relevant to European manufacturing, which remains heavily represented in automotive, industrial, power, analogue, sensor, and photonic technologies rather than the smallest digital logic nodes. Growth across those categories reaches regional fabs and equipment suppliers more directly than demand confined to a handful of advanced processor designs.

Automotive and industrial recovery is likely to remain measured because both sectors operate with long product cycles and conservative qualification practices. Customers are rebuilding inventories cautiously after the sharp corrections that followed the shortage period, while demand differs substantially between conventional vehicle electronics, electrified powertrains, factory automation, energy infrastructure, and general industrial control.

Wafer manufacturers must balance the present increase against the risk of expanding too quickly. New crystal growth and wafer processing capacity requires substantial capital, extended construction schedules, and lengthy customer qualification, particularly for 300mm substrates and applications with stringent defect, flatness, and surface quality requirements.

Regional fabrication programmes introduce another variable, since announced factories only begin consuming wafers after construction, equipment installation, process qualification, and customer ramp up have been completed. Delays at any stage can shift substrate demand by several quarters, even where the eventual capacity remains committed.

The second quarter therefore points to a firmer and more diverse market rather than indiscriminate expansion. AI continues to set the pace, but the power, photonic, industrial, and automotive devices surrounding it are drawing a broader share of the semiconductor supply chain into the recovery.