The production value of the local integrated circuit (IC) sector rose 5.1 percent from a year earlier to NT$396 billion (US$12.97 billion), reversing a decline in the previous two quarters thanks to the launch of new electronic devices and investment in 5G infrastructure, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Friday.
Growth in the third quarter reversed a 10.8 percent annual decline in the first quarter, which suffered from weakening smartphone sales and falling cryptocurrency transactions, and a 3.1 percent drop in the second quarter, when the industry suffered inventory adjustments, the ministry’s data showed.
In the first nine months of this year, the production value of the sector totaled NT$1.06 trillion, down 2.8 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said.
In the third quarter, outbound sales accounted for almost 87 percent of total output in the industry, and amounted to 84.1 percent of total output in the first nine months, it said.
The sector is likely to see additional positive growth in output this quarter due to strong demand, which would help the sector post an annual increase in production value for the whole of this year to set a record following the previous high of NT$1.51 trillion last year.
Before this year, the output in the sector posted record highs for six years in a row, the ministry said.
WAFER FOUNDRY
Within the IC sector, the pure wafer foundry segment posted production value of NT$877.4 billion in the first nine months, accounting for about 83 percent of the total IC output, it said.
On the back of recovering global demand, pure wafer foundry operators are expected to post a new high in output value this year after the segment recorded an output value of NT$1.22 trillion last year, a record high for the seventh consecutive year.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) took a 50.5 percent share of the global pure wafer foundry market in the third quarter, ahead of Samsung Electronics Co at 18.5 percent and GlobalFoundries Inc at 8.3 percent, United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) at 6.7 percent and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯) at 4.4 percent, market advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report.
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