Semiconductor Materials Market

Introduction

Semiconductor components are also referred to as electronics components and are manufactured by exploiting the electronic properties of various materials, such as silicon, gallium arsenide and germanium, among other materials. The key electronic properties of a semiconductor can be altered by mixing/ doping impurities and thus, semiconductors are widely used in photovoltaic and electronics industries.

Generally, semiconductors are used in the manufacturing of industrial and consumer devices, such as computers, cell phones and digital cameras, semiconductors, solar cells, leasers and sensors, among others. Different semiconductor materials have different properties owing to which consumption pattern of each type of material is different and varies with respect to application.

Selection of semiconductor component material, for any application, mainly depends on material band gap and lattice constant. However, these property can be altered by mixing multiple compounds to attain the required properties. Silicon is most commonly used semiconductor materials and is is crystalline in nature.

Other than silicon, Germanium, Gallium arsenide, Silicon carbide, Gallium Nitride, Gallium phosphide, Gallium phosphide and Lead sulphide are some of the other elements which are commonly used as semiconductor materials. The abundant availability of Silicon and its low price are the main reasons behind silicon being the main raw material for the manufacturing of computer processors, memory chips, transistors and all other electronics.

Semiconductor materials Market: Market Dynamics

The growth of the semiconductor market is being driven by the high demand for memory products, energy generation products and other electronics & consumer products. Along with this, growing demand for semiconductor products from the automotive industry is another significant factor responsible for the growth of the market.

Thus, growing demand for semiconductor products across the globe will help to drive semiconductor components market. Increasing demand for consumer durables and portable devices, such as laptops, mobiles and digital devices, among others, is driving the semiconductor materials market, which in turn, is resulting in increasing demand for semiconductor materials market.

Moreover, initiatives taken by several countries across the globe to promote conventional sources of energy, such as solar, wind, etc. and increasing investments for the same are leading to increasing demand for PV solar panels, energy conversion devices and related assemblies, among other, wherein semiconductors are prevalently used and thus, the Semiconductor materials Market is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period.

Thus, growing investments in the solar sector will provide stimulus for the growth of semiconductor materials market. However, low recycling rate of semiconductor materials causes detrimental effect to the environment, which may hamper the growth of the Semiconductor materials Market.

Semiconductor materials Market: Segmentation

Semiconductor materials Market: Regional Outlook

According to the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturer Association, the Electronic & Electrical industry is expected to have grown by around 4% in 2017. Moreover, Asia Pacific is estimated to have dominated the semiconductor market and accounted for around 69% of global market in 2017. Along with this, the European electrical and electronics industry is also expected to have grown by around 3% in 2017.

In terms of consumption, China dominates the global semiconductor component materials market. This can be attributed to increasing production of electronic devices and components in China, supported by the presence of a large number of manufacturers and high production capacity for electronic devices in the country.

This will lead to increase in demand for semiconductor component materials and thus, growth of the Semiconductor materials Market in China. China and Japan are the major market in semiconductor component materials market. In terms of Electronics production, Japan ranked 2nd in the Asia pacific region.

In Asia Pacific region, semiconductor component materials market in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan is expected to register healthy growth over the forecast period. Moreover, the North America market is expected to register steady growth over the forecast period in the Semiconductor materials Market.

Semiconductor materials Market: Key Participants

Examples of some of the participants operating in the global semiconductor materials market are:

• Air Products & Chemicals Inc.
• Cree Inc.
• Galaxy Compound Semiconductors Inc.
• Dow Corning Corporation
• Freescale Semiconductors Inc.
• Internation Quantum Epitaxy PLC.
• Taiwan Semiconductors Manufacturing Company Limited
• Sumitomo Chemical Company Ltd.
• High-Technologies Corporation
• Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd
• Elkem
• Tribotecc GmbH
• Graphene Laboratories Inc