Semiconductor equipment billings in Taiwan are expected to double this year, as manufacturers in the industry are keen to expand production to meet strong global demand for artificial intelligence applications, according to SEMI, which represents companies in the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain.
Speaking at a news conference before the opening of Semicon Taiwan trade show tomorrow, SEMI director of industry research and statistics Clark Tseng (曾瑞榆) said semiconductor equipment billings in Taiwan are expected to grow by an annual 100 percent this year, beating an earlier estimate of 70 percent growth.
He said that Taiwan received a boost from a large-scale investment in artificial intelligence (AI)-related semiconductors, especially in graphics processing units and high-bandwidth memory, posting the strongest growth in the world.
Photo: AFP
In the first seven months of the year, semiconductor equipment billings in Taiwan soared 134 percent from a year earlier, Tseng said.
South Korea is also benefiting from AI development, as evidenced by its report of a 38 percent year-on-year increase in semiconductor equipment billings in the seven-month period, he said.
China, meanwhile, saw an 11 percent year-on-year decline due to a relatively high comparison base in the previous year, Tseng said.
Worldwide, semiconductor equipment billings are estimated to grow by an annual 7-10 percent this year, with wafer equipment recording 6-7 percent growth, integrated circuit (IC) testing 23 percent, and assembly equipment 8 percent, he said.
Equipment to produce chips made on the 7 nanometer process and more advanced technologies, as well as memory chips, are expected to account for about 40 percent of the total global billings this year, Tseng said.
He forecast that the ratio will rise further to 45 percent in 2027, and 55 percent in 2030.
At the news conference, Tien Wu (吳田玉), chief operating officer of IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), said that while the global semiconductor value chain will undergo restructuring over the next decade, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is expected to maintain its technology lead in the fields of AI and data center development by a margin of two to three years.
The Semicon Taiwan, which SEMI describes as the “Olympics of the semiconductor industry,” is expected to draw a record 1,200 enterprises from 56 countries this year. They will showcase their innovations at over 4,100 booths, attracting a record 100,000 visitors, according to SEMI.
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