Balance of chip power still tilts toward Asia

China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan will all have more semiconductor production capacity than the United States at the end of 2024, according to the latest World Fab Forecast released by SEMI, the global semiconductor industry association. Semiconductor fabrication facility construction data shows that more than 80% of the world’s fab capacity is still located in Asia, with this year’s estimated percentage slightly higher than last year’s. China’s share of worldwide capacity is forecast to rise from 26% to 27% in 2024, while America’s remains slightly below 10% and Europe’s under 9%. US and EU efforts to rebuild their domestic chip supply chains are unlikely to bear much fruit until 2025 at the earliest. Total worldwide fab capacity is expected to rise by 6.4% to exceed 30 million wafers per month (WPM) in 2024, marking a new record high. Calculated in terms of 200mm (8-inch) wafer equivalents, global capacity rose 5.5% last year to 29.6 million wafers per month.