The output value of the domestic semiconductor industry should increase by more than 16 percent this year, according to industry research group Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK, 產業經濟與趨勢研究中心).
The IEK, a unit of the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute, said that the output of the semiconductor business is expected to total NT$2.19 trillion (US$71.26 billion), up 16.4 percent from a year earlier.
The growth of the nation’s semiconductor industry was set to outpace the year-on-year increase of 6.5 percent predicted for the global semiconductor business, the IEK said.
The nation’s IC industry has benefited from strong demand for mobile devices, market analysts said. In particular, domestic semiconductor producers have taken the lead among international peers in the development of advanced processes which ensure solid demand, the IEK said.
Within the semiconductor sector, the production value of the domestic IC manufacturing sector should increase 16.7 percent from that seen a year earlier to reach NT$1.16 trillion, the IEK said, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) leading the way.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has gotten a boost from its efforts to develop advanced technology, including 28 nanometer and 20 nm processes, which has helped it retain marketshare and win more orders, analysts said.
TSMC’s consolidated sales for the first nine months of this year rose 19.7 percent from a year earlier to NT$540.29 billion, and earnings per share for the period were NT$7.09, up from NT$5.53 a year earlier.
The production value of the domestic IC design segment is expected to rise 19.1 percent year-on-year to NT$572.8 billion this year, while the output of the IC packaging and testing segments could rise 12.9 percent and 12.1 percent respectively, to NT$321 billion and NT$141.9 billion, the IEK said.
In the fourth quarter, the output value of the semiconductor industry could reach NT$585.2 billion, down 0.5 percent from a quarter earlier, as the fourth quarter is a traditionally slow season for the sector, according to analysts.
The domestic IC manufacturing sector is expected to outperform the semiconductor industry as a whole and post a sequential 1.8 percent increase in output value from the third quarter to NT$317.2 billion, the IEK said.
The output value of the IC design segment in the fourth quarter might fall 5.1 percent from a quarter earlier to NT$147 billion, while the value of the IC packaging and testing segments’ production could fall 0.6 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, to NT$84 billion and NT$37 billion, the IEK said.
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