Abstract
Accompanying the increasingly shortened life cycle of electronic products and intensive competition, product price erosion is becoming more serious. As enterprises face pressure to reduce cost, especially in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The rate of price erosion is faster than the cost reduction rate and as a result, profit is declining. Cost reduction is the most basic approach to gain higher profit. Will the 450mm wafer generation dramatically decrease the manufacturing cost and have positive impact on the entire semiconductor industry? This research is based on UNISON decision model and Porter’s “Five competitive forces” analysis and wafer cost analysis to examine the necessity of the 450mm wafer generation.Under a business environment of intensive competition and accelerated information technology transfer speeds, any competitive advantage or entry barrier will quickly be destroyed. An enterprise can only maintain its advantage for a very limited period of time. So, each enterprise requires continuous innovation to avoid being overtaken. If we assume the parity of each cost item for the 450mm wafer relative to 300mm wafer is same as 300mm relative to 200mm, the raw wafer cost of 450mm wafer should be less than three times that of 300mm wafer when in a mature mass production environment. Without that, 450mm wafer generation can’t meet the industry expectations of die cost savings 30% compared to the 300mm generation.This research also uses SWOT to analyze the different strategy between wafer manufacturer and equipment supplier. Considering the opportunities of consuming less resources and gaining more benefits, this thesis suggests semiconductor industry to develop 450mm generation collaboratively and to inspire more innovations.