Global FOUP and FOSB Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Global FOUP and FOSB Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

The wafer carrier box used in moving from a wafer manufacturer to a semiconductor manufacturer is called a Front Opening Shipping Box (FOSB), and a carrier box used in a semiconductor manufacturing process line is called a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP).

Market Overview:

The latest research study on the global FOUP and FOSB market finds that the global FOUP and FOSB market reached a value of USD 321.01 million in 2022. It’s expected that the market will achieve USD 604.84 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 11.14% during the forecast period.

The pandemic has impacted the supply chain

The outbreak has adversely affected countries' economies and industries due to lockdowns, travel bans and business closures. In the past year, the supply and price of raw materials have been unstable, and international freight has become a huge burden. Lockdowns of factories have restricted global supply chains and disrupted manufacturing activities, delivery schedules and sales of products, causing countries to accelerate the construction of local supply chains to avoid the risk of chain disruptions. The outbreak has disrupted company operations, research or development. Ensuring the stability of operations and the health and safety of employees is the most important issue for the company during the epidemic.

Strength

Downstream demand increases

With the rapid expansion of 5G, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicle markets, chip demand has further skyrocketed. In response to the global chip shortage, chip manufacturing companies such as TSMC, Samsung, Intel, Global Foundries, and SMIC have built factories to expand. Wafer transport and handling systems are an important part of the manufacturing process flow to maintain a clean environment for wafers. These systems include several types of wafer handling carriers, primarily front-opening shipping boxes (FOSB); cabin (FOUP), etc. FOUP and FOSB provide an ultra-clean microenvironment for the wafers they protect. Thus, the semiconductor wafer should not be subject to external influences during the manufacturing process. The large-scale expansion of fab around the world has brought strong demand for FOUPs and FOSBs used for safe transportation in the wafer fabrication process, resulting in the expansion of the FOUP and FOSB industries.

Weakness

High requirements and high industry barriers

In the field of semiconductors, the manufacturing of wafers has a very high technological content, and the technical process requirements are very high. With the continuous development of semiconductor technology, the requirements for wafer carriers are also higher, such as higher cleanliness, meeting automation requirements, and requiring strict certification, etc., and the entry threshold for the wafer carrier industry is relatively high. The more technically difficult FOUP and FOSB industries have higher barriers. FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod)/FOSB (Front Opening Shipping Box) is an important medium for wafer transportation and transfer. If the wafer box has various forms of contamination, there is a risk to the cleanliness of the wafer itself, which affects yield. For example, contamination during the process, metal contamination of the wafer itself, the release of wafer cassette material, dust from docking equipment, etc. Therefore, contamination analysis and contamination assessment of FOUP/FOSB are required. Higher manufacturing requirements and industry barriers are one of the disadvantages of FOUP and FOSB market development.

Region Overview:

Geographically, Asia Pacific held the largest market share - 65.11% in 2021.

Company Overview:

Entegris is one of the major players operating in the FOUP and FOSB market, holding a share of 41.92% in 2022.

Entegris

Founded in 1966, Entegris is a leader in advanced materials and process solutions for the semiconductor and other high-tech industries. Headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, Entegris employs approximately 6,800 people worldwide.

Shin-Etsu Polymer

Shin-Etsu Polymer was established as the subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Chemical, an industry leader in PVC and semiconductor silicone products in 1960. With its core technologies of PVC and silicone rubber processing, Shin-Etsu Polymer develop and supplies a variety of products to leading companies in consumer electronics, electric components, semiconductor, automotive, construction markets worldwide through corporate's global network.

Segmentation Overview:

By type, Front Opening Shipping Box (FOSB) segment accounted for the largest share of market in 2021.

Front Opening Shipping Box (FOSB)

FOSB can be seen as a plastic case, but it is the essence of state-of-the-art technologies. Completed wafers are thinner compared to their areas and are susceptible to contamination. They may bend or break during transportation. It is FOSB that solves these concerns. Since FOSB is used in the external transfer process, it should be designed and manufactured to be resistant to impact and vibration.

Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP)

FOUP, is a process-to-process transfer container used for semiconductor manufacturing companies' in-process transportation. Semiconductor wafers should not be subject to external impact during manufacturing. Extremely clean conditions must be maintained to avoid contamination from external factors. Especially, since it is a transport container that directly affects the yield, the strictness also increases with the refinement of the process. Compared to FOSB, it also features a number of relatively chemical requirements.

Application Overview:

By application, the 300mm Wafer segment occupied the biggest share from 2017 to 2022.

300mm Wafer

A wafer is a thin slice of semiconductor, such as a crystalline silicon (c-Si), used for the fabrication of integrated circuits. Silicon wafers are available in a variety of diameters from 25.4 mm (1 inch) to 300 mm (11.8 inches, usually referred to as 12 inch). It is mainly defined by the diameter of the wafers produced by the semiconductor fab. The diameter is gradually increased to improve yield and reduce cost.

200mm Wafer and Others

200 mm (7.9 inch, usually referred to as 8 inch).8-inch silicon wafers are mainly used in integrated circuits, chips and industrial electronic components. Wafers of 6 inches and below are mainly used in the field of general consumer electronic components.

Key Companies in the global FOUP and FOSB market covered in Chapter 3:

Shin-Etsu Polymer
Entegris
ePAK
Dainichi Shoji
Chuang King Enterprise
3S Korea
Miraial
E-SUN
Gudeng Precision

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 14.2, on the basis of types, the FOUP and FOSB market from 2018 to 2029 is primarily split into:

Front Opening Shipping Box (FOSB)
Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP)

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 14.3, on the basis of Downstream Industry, the FOUP and FOSB market from 2018 to 2029 covers:

300mm Wafer
200mm Wafer and Others

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2018-2029) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 8 to Chapter 14:

North America (United States, Canada)
Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden)
Asia Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia)
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa)