Asus and MSI motherboard sales were up in August. Ritek's monthly revenues are up. Is it time to move to 450mm wafers?

The semiconductor industry scales up wafer sizes every 12 to 15 years on average. In the past, such transitions were always accompanied by a decreased number of companies that could afford the manufacturing costs at the new level. For example, while over 100 companies worldwide produced 200mm wafers, only about 50, perhaps even less, were able to move ahead to production on 300mm wafers. Approximating a similar trend going to the next phase, which will be the transition to 450mm wafers, it is easy to understand why suppliers are already worried about the future, Kau explained.