News

5 August 2008

 

SI GaAs epi market to grow 7% in 2008 then 10% in 2009

Market research firm Strategy Analytics’ prediction that IQE plc of Cardiff, UK would secure the top spot as a merchant supplier of both metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) material has been confirmed by it taking 36% of the market in 2007, according to its report ‘Markets for SI GaAs Epitaxial Substrates: 2007-2012’. IQE was propelled to the number one position in terms of both material output and revenue by its acquisitions of the epiwafer foundries MBE Technology Pte Ltd in Singapore and Emcore’s Electronic Materials & Device division in Somerset, NJ, USA (now IQE RF LLC).

It was also a milestone year for Taiwanese epiwafer foundry Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co Ltd (VPEC), as it edged ahead of Japan’s Hitachi Cable in terms of total material output to the merchant market in 2007. However, Kopin remained the world’s number one supplier of SI (semi-insulating) GaAs MOCVD epitaxial substrates. In the merchant SI GaAs MBE epitaxial substrate market, Intelligent Epitaxy Technology Inc (IntelliEPI) of Richardson, TX, USA pushed ahead of Soitec subsidiary, Picogiga International S.A.S. near Paris, France, by 3 percentage points in 2007.

“With strong strategic relationships in place, market leaders like IQE and Kopin will benefit from continued demand for SI GaAs epitaxial substrates, despite the macroeconomic concerns surrounding end markets for GaAs,” predicts Asif Anwar, director of the GaAs service at Strategy Analytics. “Demand for SI GaAs epitaxial substrates will grow by 7% year-on-year in 2008 and then 10% year-on-year in 2009,” he adds.

“Captive production of epitaxial substrates at GaAs device manufacturers remains significant, accounting for 30% of total material output in 2007,” Anwar notes. “Despite strong growth for the merchant vendors, we believe that, overall, RFMD will continue to be the world’s largest producer of SI GaAs epitaxial substrates.”

See related items:

GaAs microelectronics market to slow to 9% in 2008

GaAs market grew 17% to $3.6bn in 2007

Fab upgrades shift GaAs substrate demand from 4-inch to 6-inch

IQE grows 26% year-on-year in Q1/2008

SI GaAs epi market to grow at 8% through 2011

Search: SI GaAs epiwafers IQE Kopin VPEC Hitachi Cable IntelliEPI Soitec

Visit: www.iqep.com

Visit: www.strategyanalytics.com