2020年5G 正式進入大規模商業應用階段，新的多元應用帶來新一波半導體市場的榮景。台灣為全球第2大半導體製造國，而矽晶圓是半導體的關鍵材料，佔半導體材料成本約38%。美中貿易戰和新冠肺炎造成全球斷鏈，去全球化、區域性、地緣經濟的趨勢發展等全球經貿議題，以及5G高頻高效能的需求，使得半導體成為全球焦點，也使得矽晶圓此一關鍵材料備受關注。在全球動盪多變的時局，本論文以產業經濟理論之「結構—行為—績效 (structure-conduct-performance, S-C-P)」分析架構來探討全球矽晶圓產業的發展現況與未來趨勢。 本論文的研究結果如下。在矽晶圓的市場結構中，研究發現矽晶圓產業屬於高資本高技術密集的產業，市場具有規模經濟的進入障礙，為一個高度進入障礙的產業，因此矽晶圓產業為非合作的高度寡佔市場。此外，廠商歷來也有各種併購行為，使得市場集中度更為提高。 就廠商行為來說，由於矽晶圓產業市場結構屬於高度寡佔市場，矽晶圓廠囿於反托拉斯法規限制，已無法再以併購行為來搶占市占率，目前已開始轉以新建廠房擴增產能來搶占更多的市占。就產品策略而言，12吋矽晶圓廠將會逐漸成為主流，產品策略上將從8吋逐步移轉至12吋產品。在訂價策略方面，由於矽晶圓廠商相互競爭激烈，只能採取?和漲價策略，利用市場榮景緩升矽晶圓價格。 在政府政策方面，近年主要發展半導體工業國都投入龐大國家預算及積極政策來扶植半導體產業的發展，台灣目標要成為全球「半導體先進製程中心」，將建立更完整半導體產業聚落，關鍵材料自主化、材料供應在地化、外商設備製造在地化與先進封裝設備國產化等，強化整個半導體供應鏈為首要工作。 從經營績效來看，併購行為擴大經濟規模，為廠商帶來市場占有率及獲利，也證實矽晶圓產業是具規模經濟效益的產業。此外，本論文也發現矽晶圓產業的獲利與半導體產業的脈動變化具有高度相關。;The 5G connection has entered a large-scale market application in 2020, bringing semiconductors to wider versatile applications. Silicon wafer is a key material in semiconductors, taking up to 38% of the cost. With the US-China trade war and global pandemic causing turbulence in logistics, anti-globalization and especially the demand of high-frequency and high-performance 5G chips, semiconductor industries have stranded global attention among this turmoil. This work implements Structure-Conduct-Performance (S-C-P) model to analyze the current development and future trends of global silicon wafer industries.
This paper finds that silicon wafer industry is an aggregation of high capitals and technology-intensive companies. Economies of scale in Silicon Wafer industry are often referred to as its entry barriers. silicon wafer industry is therefore a non-cooperative oligopoly. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are also not unheard of in the silicon wafer industry in order to raise market concentration.
In terms of firms’ conduct, silicon wafer industry. Due to the restriction of Antitrust Laws, silicon wafer companies can no longer raise market share by merger and acquisition. Instead, they focus on investing and expanding factories to increase the production capacity. In terms of product strategy, 12-inch silicon wafer foundries are becoming the mainstream, replacing the 8-inch ones. As of pricing, increasing the price is not a viable approach due to intense competition among foundries. Instead, a milder strategy on price increase is taken.
In terms of firms’ performance, merger and acquisition help expand economy scale, bring more profits and market shares. This proves that silicon wafer industry is a scale economy industry. This work also finds the profit of silicon wafer industries varies in high accordance with semiconductor industries.
