Study: Chip factory capacity to inch up

The worldwide manufacturing capacity for making semiconductors will notch up by 2.8 percent this year, according to a study sponsored by the Fabless Semiconductor Association, a trade group that represents semiconductor designers. The rise will be due in part to slowly increasing demand, the study stated. The recession prompted manufacturers to shrink capacity in 2002, with worldwide capacity falling from being capable of processing 13.9 million 200-millimeter wafers in 2001 to 13 million in 2002--a 6.6 percent contraction. Capacity will then grow again by 10.2 percent in 2004, the report stated.