Frost and Sullivan's Report Highlights the Demand for Semiconductors in the ASEAN Countries

CHINA: A report from Frost and Sullivan on “Analysis of Global Process and Production Chemicals for Electronics” found that the market earned revenues of $28.06 billion in 2014 and estimates to reach $38.07 billion in 2021. China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries will be key demand hotspots for semiconductor and printed circuit board (PCB) materials in the forecast period. The factors such as multi-pattering, extreme ultraviolet (EUV), and smaller nodes will increase the markets for semiconductor gases, photoresists and ancillaries.

The technological innovations in semiconductor fabrication have encouraged the manufactures of process and production chemicals to come out with better and innovative products. The demands from communication and automotive industries have enhanced the growth in chemical markets for semiconductor fabrication, packaging materials and print circuit board (PCB).

Challenges in the industry

The expensive cost of semiconductor fabrication and packaging has limited the expansion chemical markets. The manufactures also needs to find a solution to the alarming problem caused by the use of these chemicals.

Fabs are generating innovative methods to reduce the problems causes the chemicals. The use of sulphur hexafluoride is being reduced to stop global warming. The consumption of chemical is analyzed to reduce the cost. The manufactures are also implementing ideas to recycle the product to generate materials.

"The adoption of smaller nodes such as 22nm, 14nm, 10nm and 7nm are vital for the uptake of technologically advanced products," says Frost & Sullivan Visionary Science Research Analyst Siddharth Anand Sainath. "For instance, smaller nodes require higher volume of gases and wet chemicals for etching owing to design complexities. Asia-Pacific presents significant growth opportunities for semiconductor and PCB materials owing to the clusters of production units."