KUALA LUMPUR (April 7): The global semiconductor materials market increased 3% in 2014 compared to 2013 while worldwide semiconductor revenues increased 10%, according to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).

In a statement on its website, SEMI said revenues of $44.3 billion marked the first increase in the semiconductor materials market since 2011.

It said total wafer fabrication materials and packaging materials were US$24.0 billion and US$20.4 billion, respectively.

SEMI said comparable revenues for these segments in 2013 were US$22.7 billion for wafer fabrication materials and US$20.4 billion for packaging materials.

It said the wafer fabrication materials segment increased 6% year-over-year, while the packaging materials segment remained flat.

However, it said that if bonding wire were excluded from the packaging materials segment, the segment increased more than 4% last year.

It said the continuing transition to copper-based bonding wire from gold is negatively impacting overall packaging materials revenues.

SEMI said that for the fifth consecutive year, Taiwan was the largest consumer of semiconductor materials due to its large foundry and advanced packaging base, totaling US$9.8 billion.

It said Japan claimed the second spot during the same time.

“Annual revenue growth was the strongest in the Taiwan market.

“The materials market in North America had the second largest increase at 5%, followed by China, South Korea and Europe.

“The materials markets in Japan and Rest of World were flat relative to 2013 levels. (The ROW region is defined as Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, other areas of Southeast Asia and smaller global markets.),” it said.