The production value of the nation’s semiconductor industry in the first quarter of this year fell more than 10 percent from a quarter earlier due to the slow-season effect, but momentum is expected to pick up in the second quarter, the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA) said.
Data compiled by the TSIA showed that the output of the IC sector totaled NT$603.2 billion (US$20.27 billion) in the first quarter, down 10.7 percent from a quarter earlier.
All four major segments in the local semiconductor industry suffered a sequential fall in production value, with the IC design segment recording the steepest decline of 14.7 percent in output at NT$137.2 billion, the data showed.
The production value of the IC testing segment dropped 14.2 percent from a quarter earlier, the second-biggest fall, to NT$33.2 billion, followed by a 13.2 percent decline registered by the IC packaging segment with output at NT$75.5 billion, the TSIA said.
The semiconductor manufacturing segment also registered an 8.1 percent sequential fall in production value in the first quarter, the smallest decline, to NT$357.3 billion, the TSIA added.
The production value of the local IC industry is expected to return to a growth pattern approaching NT$614.2 billion in the second quarter, up 1.8 percent from a quarter earlier, as the IC design segment is likely to witness demand from China on the back of growth in the Chinese smartphone market.
In the second quarter, the IC design segment is expected to post NT$158.7 billion in output, up 15.7 percent from a quarter earlier, and the production value of the IC packaging segment is expected to record a 7.3 percent sequential increase to NT$81 billion, the TSIA forecast.
However, the IC testing segment is expected to post NT$33 billion in output in the second quarter, down 0.6 percent from a quarter earlier, it said.
The production value of the IC manufacturing segment is expected to fall 4.4 percent to NT$341.5 billion in the second quarter from a quarter earlier, as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has forecast that the slow-season effect is to drag down second-quarter sales by between 7 and 8 percent from a quarter earlier, the TSIA said.
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