TELF AG analyzes the trends and dynamics of the semiconductor industry
The engines of innovation
Even if their role is little known or almost completely ignored, nowadays, semiconductors contribute greatly to giving a precise shape to the daily lives of millions of people. Semiconductors are found in smartphones, advanced electronic systems, and practically every device we use, almost always absentmindedly, throughout our days. Over the years, the semiconductor industry has attracted global attention due to the peculiar materials used to create silicon. This resource has been used for decades, and the moment of its replacement with other types of materials still appears very distant. In this industry, silicon is appreciated for its exceptional conductive capabilities, which can be further increased by combining it with other materials such as boron and phosphorus. Other materials used in this sector belong to the so-called rare earths, such as gallium and germanium. The role of semiconductors in manufacturing technological devices of the future (and present) is now an almost wholly established fact.
But what are the production phases that lead to the manufacture of such an important component of the electronic instruments people use daily? From this point of view, there are three main steps: the first is represented by the design, in which the main structure of the chip is meticulously developed starting from scratch. The second has to do with the actual creation of the microchip on the silicon wafer, i.e., those thin slices of silicon crystal that represent the basis for the circuit and subsequent processing. Finally, the third phase includes the functioning and assembly tests of the microprocessor, which, at this point, can be said to be almost completely completed.
A continuously growing sector
Faced with continuous increases in demand from the electronics sector (but not only), the semiconductor sector is certainly one of those that is recording very substantial business volumes, particularly regarding machinery for wafer manufacturing. In 2022, according to data recently reported by the newspaper ilSole24Ore, they had reached 94 billion dollars, and between 2024 and 2025 (according to estimates by Semi), we should see growth of between 3 and 18% (on the latter data could also impact the expansion of production at an international level).
Even in the semiconductor sector, one of the primary growth drivers is using artificial intelligence in the various production phases. AI supports the semiconductor industry in several ways, especially in the production and design phases. In the production phases, this new ally is used in particular for the overall optimization of the process and for reducing costs, for example, by predicting possible failures. AI has also proved to be very useful in the phase in which product design is developed through effective simulations of the behavior of the semiconductor in different situations. All this contributes to a substantial reduction in the time and resources needed to manufacture microprocessors and allows manufacturers to create high-quality and highly competitive semiconductors on the market.
