On April 26, since the outbreak of 2020 global shortage core tide, the Chinese wafer manufacturers have 17 are expanding, production capacity has gradually began to release, but the expansion mainly with 12 inch wafer capacity, 8 inch wafer capacity only smic (Tianjin), sea Chen semiconductor, Shaoxing SMIC, Ningbo SMIC, micro (Hangzhou) and byd semiconductor six manufacturers in expansion, from the point of capacity time, new capacity will be released in 2022.

▲ SMIC and Huahong Semiconductor revenue and wafer sales from 2018 to 2021.(Source: Financial report; organized by Extension Industrial Research Institute, 2022.4)

From the demand side, driven by the 5G industry chain (mobile phones, base stations), data centers, online office and new energy vehicles, the demand for 8-inch wafers will continue to be strong, especially the penetration of new energy vehicles will rise rapidly driven by the policy, and the demand for power semiconductors will also be greatly increased, which will significantly increase the demand for 8-inch wafers.

Due to equipment constraints, 8-inch wafer capacity expansion relative to 12-inch wafer slow, causing some manufacturers to power management IC products from 8 inches to 12 inches, but the technical difficulty is relatively increased, the cost increases, so this change is not common; in addition, the power semiconductor need high reliability, and the supply chain is fixed, so 8-inch wafer still have this powerful end market.