Emerging from the large family of corona viruses, COVID-19 has pushed the human race and the world economy into a corner with limited options. With science unable to keep up with the urgent need for a medical cure, alternate efforts taken to limit the spread of the pandemic like lockdowns, shelter-in-place orders, closure of all non-essential businesses and travel has choked the economy. The asphyxiated economy has set into motion a cascading effect of a marked slowdown which is being felt by businesses and consumers alike. Global GDP is expected to dip into the red at -3% with the US economy shrinking by a shocking -5.9%. Unemployment rates have hit never-before highs with the US topping the charts with 12.5% unemployed as a % of total labor force. Social outlook against this background remains grim with households expected witness erosion in wealth. Personal financial outlook, community, economy, job security confidence, purchasing and investment confidence are all tumbling as the human and economic cost of the global pandemic rises. For the electronics industry this brings grim news of falling sales and revenues as consumers hold back on discretionary spending. As discretionary funds are used to purchase consumer electronics, demand highly correlates with GDP. Excluding electronic hardware required for work-from-home (WFM), demand for all other consumer electronics are declining sharply. Smart phones, TVs, smart speakers, automobiles, and smart watches, among others have all recorded declines in retail sales.

Manufacturers of electronic products are facing dual challenges of production bottlenecks as a result of supply chain disruptions and inability to deliver on backlogged orders and weak new orders as a result of soft consumer demand. Electronics supply chain already in state of flux in the pre-pandemic period by the U.S. and China trade and tariff war has been pushed into crisis with little preparation at the start of the pandemic in January2020. With most electronic raw material supply dependent on Southeast Asian countries and China, over 75% of companies witnessed shipment delays which in the month of April rose to 3 to 5 weeks. The overall velocity of the value chain to perform and fulfill orders has reduced significantly. Consumer electronics manufacturing, followed closely by automotive and industrial electronics remain the worst impacted. With companies cancelling and delaying modernization plans and with IT budgets slashed, industrial electronics is also feeling the pain of the general slowdown. With most electronic companies expected to witness decline in sales and profitability, the semiconductor industry also remains impacted and likely to face short-term financial hardships. The global market for Silicon Reclaim Wafers against this backdrop is expected to decline by -11% in 2020.

The global market is projected to reach a revised size of US$88.2 million by the year 2027, trailing a CAGR of 7.6%. 300mm reclaimed wafer, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a8.2% CAGR to reach US$584.8 million by the end of the analysis period. Reopening of the economy and gradual recovery of consumer confidence will bring hope for the market in the coming year. In the post pandemic period, growth will come from the growing focus on environmental management of wastes in the semiconductor industry; and growing demand for recycled and reclaimed silicon wafers in solar panels and automotive electronics especially in electric cars. Recycled and/or reclaimed silicon wafers are preferred for manufacturing photovoltaic modules given their low cost and lower purity standards of solar wafers as compared to electronic grade silicon. Other major growth drivers will include high cost of prime silicon wafers at over US$350 per wafer and the resulting focus on replacement by cheaper reclaimed silicon; continuous developments in reclamation techniques and technologies that enable production of reclaimed wafers in higher quality; and resurgence of interest in connected cars and smart car technologies. Despite the opportunities for growth, the market will confront challenges manifested in the form of shortage of feedstock (silicon scrap, broken wafers, scrap wafers, end-of-life ICs) despite the global rise in the volume of e-waste; and variability in recycled yields aggravated by increased use of new materials in semiconductor manufacturing processes that make cleaning and re-use silicon challenging.