9 New 300 mm Waver Fabs, 5 of Them in China

This will increase the number of active 300 mm wafer fabs to 212 this year and to 138 by 2023.

With 9 new 300 mm wafer fabs, more plants will open in 2019 than last year, when there were 7. Even more new Fabs than in 2019 were last put into operation in 2007, when there were 12.

According to IC Insights, 6 new 300 mm fabs are expected to start production next year, according to analysts in the latest report "Global Wafer Capacity 2019-2023". All new Fabs are either dedicated to the production of memory ICs (DRAMs or Flash ICs) or belong to foundries.

IC Insights has not included the 300mm R&Dabs in the statistics because they do not produce commercial ICs in quantities. Also, according to IC Insights, there are some 300mm fabs that produce in quantities, but do not produce ICs. They are not included in the statistics either.

The 200 mm fabs have already exceeded the peak of their life curve for some time. In 2018, 150 Fabs were still producing ICs on 200 mm wafers in quantities. At peak times there were 210.