The government-supported Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has raised its forecast for this year’s growth in the output value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to above 22 percent on strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
In its latest IEK Current Quarterly Model report, the institute said the local semiconductor industry would have output of NT$6.5 trillion (US$216.6 billion) this year, up 22.2 percent from a year earlier, an upward revision from a 19.1 percent increase estimate made in May.
The strong showing of the local semiconductor industry largely reflected the stronger-than-expected performance of the integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing segment, it said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The forecast came after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, raised its forecast of sales growth for this year to 30 percent from a previous estimate of 24 to 26 percent.
TSMC attributed the higher guidance to the greater computing power needed for emerging AI applications, which has driven higher global demand for advanced chips.
The IC manufacturing sector would generate NT$4.36 trillion in output this year, up 27.5 percent from a year earlier, compared with an earlier estimate of a 23.1 percent increase, the institute said.
The output value of the pure foundry wafer business, where TSMC has taken the lead over its peers globally, is expected to reach NT$4.16 trillion, up 28.3 percent from a year earlier, it said.
The IC packaging segment is expected to see its output rising 13.5 percent from a year earlier to NT$480.3 billion, while the IC testing segment is expected to post NT$230.5 billion in output, up 15.2 percent from a year earlier, it said.
The IC design segment is expected to grow 12.1 percent this year to an output value of NT$1.42 trillion, down from 13.9 percent growth previously estimated, the institute said.
In the second quarter, the nation’s semiconductor industry posted an output value of NT$1.6 trillion, up 7.4 percent from a quarter earlier.
The IC manufacturing segment was the best performer in the industry, with NT$1.06 trillion in output, up 10.4 percent from a quarter earlier, the institute said.
The production value of the local semiconductor industry is expected to rise to about NT$1.68 trillion in the third quarter, up 4.8 percent from a quarter earlier, while the output of the IC manufacturing segment is forecast to hit NT$1.15 trillion, up 7.3 percent from the second quarter, it said.
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