News
Data centers to drive half of incremental wafer demand in 2025
Thursday, December 25, 2025 at 03:53 PM
Data center wafer consumption currently represents 15% of total market demand and is projected to account for nearly 50% of incremental wafer demand in 2025. Siltronic and Applied Materials indicate that while smartphones remain the largest demand driver, wafer shipments and consumption are approaching parity, signaling a potential growth resumption for wafer suppliers.
Context
The semiconductor industry is shifting toward an AI-centric growth model as data centers are projected to drive nearly 50% of all incremental wafer demand in 2025. While data center consumption currently represents only 15% of the total market, the massive scale of AI infrastructure build-outs is disproportionately fueling new orders. Leading equipment and material providers like Applied Materials and Siltronic are positioning for this transition as the broader industry moves past a prolonged inventory correction.
This shift comes as traditional sectors reach new inflections; PC demand has finally turned the corner toward recovery, while the automotive segment is settling into a period of lower growth. Despite the surge in AI, smartphones remain the largest overall driver of total wafer volume. For Siltronic, the key indicator for a return to growth is the emerging parity between wafer shipments and actual consumption. As excess stockpiles at chipmakers normalize, Siltronic is expected to see a resumption in shipment growth to meet the accelerating requirements of high-performance computing.
Related Companies
Applied Materials
AMAT
Siltronic
WAF