Quartz for semicon device processing: Industry growth to remain steady at 12 percent for next three years

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Quartz for Semiconductor Device Processing" report to its offering.

Sales last year of quartz products for semiconductor fabrication dipped to $501 million, its lowest level since 2003, but will quickly recover to 2007 levels next year, according to the report "Quartz for Semiconductor Applications: A Critical Materials Report 2010". Lead times for fabricated materials are up by 50 percent over normal, and all key fabricators are operating near capacity.

Overall sales of quartz base materials and fabricated parts fell approximately 25 percent to 30 percent from 2008, even though sales of lower-grade quartz crucibles for solar silicon had been up 10 percent to 15 percent earlier in the period.

Fortunately, the turnaround has been swift moving into 2010. Techcet anticipates a 15 percent increase in crucible sales, and a 40 percent to 50 percent increase in base materials and fabricated quartz parts sales this year over last. This growth rate will settle down to about a 12 percent CAGR for the following three years.