The production value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is expected to fall 4.5 percent sequentially this quarter, as the sector enters its slow season, a government report released yesterday said.
The forecast decline in output could be attributed in part to the impact of a strengthening New Taiwan dollar, the Industry & Technology Intelligence Services (ITIS) report said.
Overall production value is forecast to reach NT$456.7 billion (US$14.86 billion) in the fourth quarter, compared with NT$478.1 billion in the third quarter, it said.
During the July-September period, the local integrated circuit (IC) sector’s output rose 4.1 percent from the April-June period and 29.6 percent from a year earlier, the ITIS said.
SMARTPHONE DEMAND
The high-end production capacity of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) — the two largest contract chipmakers in the world — are likely to be fully utilized amid rising demand for smartphones in the fourth quarter, the report said. Their overall capacity utilization may exceed 90 percent, it said.
By category, IC manufacturing is expected to see a 3.7 percent sequential drop in fourth-quarter output to NT$233.9 billion, while IC design is predicted to slide 8 percent to NT$110.6 billion, ITIS said.
IC packaging is also likely to fall by 2.5 percent during the same period to NT$77.5 billion, while IC testing is expected to drop 2.3 percent to NT$34.7 billion, it said.
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