The production value of Taiwan’s integrated circuit (IC) industry is estimated to grow at a quarterly rate of 0.4 percent to NT$573.9 billion (US$19 billion) this quarter, but the figure would remain 4.6 percent lower than the same period last year, the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) said last week.
The IEK said the output growth momentum for the IC industry would likely see a substantial recovery next quarter at the earliest, with production value reaching NT$696.3 billion, up 21.3 percent quarter-on-quarter and 5.6 percent year-over-year.
The IC industry covers chip design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, with the manufacturing segment accounting for more than 50 percent of the industry’s total production value.
Given the continued weakness among local manufacturers, output of the manufacturing segment is forecast to fall by 6.4 percent sequentially to NT$300.4 billion this quarter, after an 11 percent decline in the first quarter, the center said.
The cautious forecast came after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said last month that slow season effects will continue to impact its shipments at a time of inventory adjustments so its consolidated sales for the three-month period could fall 8 to 9 percent from the first quarter.
Smaller United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) also said sales for the second quarter are likely to stay flat from the first quarter.
However, the output of the design segment, the second largest sub-segment in the local IC business, is expected to grow 10.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$154 billion this quarter, the IEK said.
MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the largest IC design house in the nation, has said that it expects its consolidated sales for the second quarter will grow by up to 8 percent from a quarter earlier.
The IEK said the output of the packaging segment is expected to rise 7.8 percent sequentially to NT$83 billion in the second quarter, while that of the testing segment will likely rise 8 percent to NT$36.5 billion.
In the first quarter, the production value of the nation’s IC sector totaled NT$571.4 billion, down 11.3 percent quarterly, but up 5 percent annually.
The manufacturing segment contributed NT$320.8 billion in output and the design segment generated NT$139.8 billion in production value.
The IEK said the production value of the packaging and testing segments hit NT$77 billion and NT$33.8 billion respectively in the first quarter.
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