INDUSTRY SLUMP: GlobalWafers chairperson Doris Hsu said that uncertainties and challenges from demand would continue, and that business visibility remains low

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 09, 2019
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, on Thursday said that it expects the inventory corrections of its clients to carry over into the second half of next year given sluggish demand for end products and macroeconomic uncertainties stemming from the US-China trade dispute.

To cope with the longer-than-expected industry slump, GlobalWafers said it plans to push back the production of a new fab in South Korea by three or four months, the firm told an investors’ teleconference.

GlobalWafers set the new fab’s production target at 150,000 advanced wafers per month by the end of next year, rather than at the end of the third quarter of next year as previously planned, it said.

The Hsinchu-based wafer supplier said it has encountered unexpected headwinds and challenges from macroeconomic uncertainties, trade tensions and customer inventory adjustments over the past few quarters.    [FULL  STORY]