Taiwan-based dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip supplier Winbond Electronics Corp. is forecast to increase capital expenditure year-on-year by over 360 percent for 2022, the highest growth in the global semiconductor industry where the average is estimated at 24 percent, according to American market information advisory firm IC Insights.
In a research note released Monday U.S. time, IC Insights said that as semiconductor suppliers in the world rush to expand their production capacity to meet solid demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Winbond is expected to spend US$1.65 billion in capex in 2022, up 367 percent from a year earlier.
Record 2022 capex expected
In 2022, the global semiconductor industry’s capex is expected to reach an all-time high of US$190.4 billion, up from US$153.9 billion in 2021, according to IC Insights.
“With many supply chains strained or broken during the pandemic, the electronics industry, in many cases, was left unprepared for the current rebound in demand,” IC Insights said.
“Booming demand has pushed most fabrication facility utilization rates well above 90 percent with many of the semiconductor foundries operating at 100 percent utilization.”
U.S.-based pure-play wafer foundry operator GlobalFoundries Inc. came in second in terms of capex growth as IC Insights forecast the company will spend US$4.5 billion in capex in 2022, up 155 percent from a year earlier.
Other big spenders in Taiwan
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is forecast to increase capex to US$42 billion in 2022, up 40 percent from a year earlier, which is the 13th highest spending growth on the IC Insights list.
In an investor conference held in mid-January, TSMC announced it will spend US$40 billion-US$44 billion in capex in 2022 as the rising popularity of emerging technologies such as 5G applications, high-end performance devices, the Internet of Things, and automotive electronics pushes up chip demand.
Nanya Technology Corp., another Taiwanese DRAM maker, took third spot on the list as the company’s capex is forecast to be US$1.0 billion in 2022, up 148 percent from the previous year.
Taiwan’s smaller contract chipmakers Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. (VIS) and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) are expected to spend US$865 million and US$3.0 billion in capex in 2022, respectively, up 81 percent and 71 percent from a year earlier, IC Insights.
VIS and UMC were eighth and ninth, respectively, on the IC Insights list.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel