Fab utilisation at silicon foundries was 98.8% in Q2, according to SICAS, showing the virtual impossibility of getting extra foundry capacity.
Q2 fab utilisation for 60nm and better processes is 98.6%, says SICAS, and 98.8% for nodes between 60nm and 80nm. For 300mm across the board it is 98.4%.
Across all nodes and all wafer sizes, utilisation is 95.6%.
There is hardly a node below 90%. At 0.08 micron, utilisation is at 90.2%; between 0.08 micron and 0.12 micron, it is 94.6%; between 0.12 and 0.2 micron it is at 92.5%; at 0.2 micron to 0.4 micron, it is at 93.1%.
Only after 0.4 micron does the utilisation rate dip below 90%. For 0.4 to 0.7 micron, it is at 88.4%, and for 0.7 micron and larger, is at 88.7%.
Even bipolar is at 90.7%.
The Q1 to Q2 growth in overall capacity across all nodes went from 93.2% to 95.7%, says SICAS, yet the semiconductor market grew at over 8% in Q2, and Q2 demand was well above what the industry could supply.