India, Oct. 30 -- Global shipments of silicon wafers are projected to increase 5.4% in 2025 to 12,824 million square inches (MSI) followed by steady growth through 2028 when the market is expected to reach a new industry record of 15,485 MSI, SEMI reported today in its annual silicon shipment forecast.

In 2025, the increase in silicon wafer shipments has been supported by strong AI-related growth, including advanced epitaxial wafers for leading edge logic devices and polished wafers for high bandwidth memory (HBM). Wafer shipments for non-AI applications, however, are just beginning to demonstrate a gradual recovery from the recent downcycle. The steady growth is expected to continue through 2028, driven by AI's expanding compute footpri...