UBS said in a Sept. 18, 2026 global wafer industry report that tightening supply-demand conditions in 12-inch and 8-inch wafers are likely to persist over the next two years, with 12-inch utilization projected to rise from 84% in 2026 to 99% in 2028. The bank argued that the market may be treating wafer producers as beneficiaries of a cyclical rebound, but higher prices are also a prerequisite for capacity expansion after the downturn from 2023 to 2025 left manufacturers cautious. UBS estimated wafer prices could rise more than 20% annually in 2027 and 2028, similar to the 2017-2018 upcycle. Still, industry feedback cited in the report suggests customers may need to accept price increases of 40% to 50% or more before suppliers seriously consider building capacity for 2028 and beyond. Without expansion, UBS said utilization could reach 103.7% in 2029, with shortages beginning to show that year. The report also said Chinese wafer makers are expanding, but their effect on global supply-demand conditions in 2027 and 2028 should be limited, especially in the high-end segment. UBS maintained Buy ratings on Shin-Etsu Chemical, GlobalWafers and Siltronic, while keeping SUMCO at Neutral.

UBS said in a Sept. 18, 2026 global wafer industry report that tighter supply-demand conditions in 12-inch and 8-inch wafers are likely to persist over the next two years, with 12-inch utilization projected to rise from 84% in 2026 to 99% by 2028. The bank argued that after the downcycle from 2023 to 2025, wafer manufacturers remain cautious on expansion, and price increases are not just a byproduct of a rebound but a condition for new capacity. According to UBS, the industry may need to see price gains of more than 40% to 50% before producers are willing to commit to expansion for 2028 and beyond. UBS also said demand upgrades were driven by stronger customer restocking and faster DRAM capacity additions. On stock coverage, the bank rated Shin-Etsu Chemical, GlobalWafers and Siltronic as Buy, while keeping SUMCO at Neutral. It also said Chinese capacity additions should have limited impact on the global high-end wafer market over 2027 to 2028.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics packaging division manager Kim Sang-hoon used a presentation at the KPCA Show international seminar INSIGHT 2026 on Sept. 10 to lay out a technical direction for multilayer core, or MLC, substrates as AI semiconductor packaging moves toward larger form factors and higher layer counts. He said the conventional single-layer core approach, which relies on thicker copper clad laminate sheets, becomes harder to process as the core gets thicker because internal vias and circuit fabrication grow more difficult and via size reduction faces limits. Kim said MLC structures using stacked CCL and prepreg, or even hybrid designs with two CCL sheets, can improve rigidity and routing flexibility while allowing ground or signal routing in prepreg layers. He also discussed manufacturing thresholds by bump pitch, saying volume production commonly uses pitches above 90μm, around 85μm marks an inflection point for printed fine solder ball processes, and difficulty rises sharply near 80μm, with 55–45μm nodes potentially shifting to metal bumps. Glass cores were presented as another option because of higher rigidity and lower thermal expansion, though brittle handling and microvia plating still need work.

Binance’s Word of the Day for February 3, 2026 runs under the “AI Innovation” theme. The list includes valid words from 3 to 8 letters, along with the game rules, extra chances, and prize details.

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