SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) recently published its latest quarterly silicon wafer industry analysis report, showing that the global silicon wafer area shipments in the third quarter of 2016 reached 2,730 million square inches, growing 0.89% sequentially and 5.4% year on year, hitting the highest recorded quarterly level. In addition, the total area shipments accumulated from the first three quarters of 2016 reached 7,973 million square inches, up 0.73% from last year. Silicon wafer industry has been growing steadily thanks to the increasing demand for chips used in automobile electronics, IoT (Internet of Things) devices, and fingerprint identification, to name a few.