Semiconductor industry under threat: researcher

China's semiconductor industry is very likely to pose a serious threat to the domestic industry within three to five years, according to a researcher at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院).

Thanks to strong government support and fierce market demand, the Chinese semiconductor industry has been growing rapidly and many leading foreign companies have edged into the vast Chinese market on their own or through joint ventures with Chinese associates, Tsai Yu-fang (蔡毓芳) said in an analysis published in TIER's monthly review issued on Saturday.

In the face of China's ascent in the international hi-tech industry, Tsai urged the domestic industry to cautiously respond to the development and called for a long-term strategy to deal with the situation.

Claiming that the Chinese industry has copied the development and operations model of the domestic industry to forge its own market deployment strategy, Tsai said that it is extremely important for Taiwanese companies to realize that maintaining a competitive edge over their Chinese rivals is the only way to secure their survival at a time when many of them are enthusiastic about breaking into the Chinese market.