The production value of Taiwan’s integrated circuit (IC) sector in the third quarter is expected to rise 7.89 percent from the second quarter as global demand remains strong, a report from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said on Wednesday.
The strong demand is anticipated as the third quarter is the peak season for the global high-tech industry, according to the report released by Industry & Technology Intelligence Services (ITIS), a research unit of the ministry’s Department of Industrial Technology.
ITIS said the local IC sector’s production value for the third quarter is expected to hit NT$477.1 billion (US$14.96 billion), compared with NT$442.2 billion recorded in the second quarter.
In the second quarter, production value of the local IC sector rose 12.8 percent from the previous quarter. The ITIS said the slower growth in the third quarter reflects the high comparison base in the second quarter.
ITIS added that a shortage of production capacity in the sector will also limit growth in the third quarter.
The report said the insufficient production capacity has prompted several IC heavyweights to raise their capacity expenditure for this year.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has hiked its capacity expenditure to US$5.9 billion from the previously planned US$4.8 billion, while United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) has raised its planned spending to US$1.8 billion from US$1.2 billion-US$1.5 billion.
During the same three-month period, production value of the IC design segment is expected to reach NT$137.5 billion, up 15 percent from the previous quarter on the back of demand for PCs, notebook computers, LCD TVs and cell phones, ITIS said.
The production value of the IC manufacturing segment for the third quarter is expected to rise 5.2 percent to NT$229 billion, production value of the IC packaging segment may grow 5 percent to NT$76.1 billion and production value of the IC testing segment is likely to add 6.2 percent to reach NT$34.5 percent.
In the second quarter, production value of the IC manufacturing segment rose 15.4 percent from the first quarter to NT$217.6 billion, and production value of the IC packaging segment gained 13.3 percent to NT$72.5 billion.
Production value of the IC testing segment in the second quarter added 14 percent to NT$32.5 billion, and production value of the IC design segment grew 7.7 percent to reach NT$119.6 billion.
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