Taiwan's IC Design Sector Revenue to Drop in H2, 2014
2014/07/04 | By Ken LiuThe market consultant Topology Research Institute (TRI) forecasts Taiwan's IC design sector to dip 2.1% to generate around US$8.07 billion in revenue in H2, 2014 from H1 based on its estimate that the Taiwan industry will slip around 5% quarter-on-quarter in Q3.
The third quarter is typically a high season for consumer-electronics sales. The organization ascribes the Q3 fall mostly to the unusually brisk market in Q2, which raises the comparison base of Q2.
TRI says the unusual market boom in Q2 is driven by the strong demand for consumer electronics in the developing economies including China, surging market penetration of 4K2K ultra high-definition TVs, and the strong demand generated by the World Cup football game.
In H2, Taiwan's design houses have sharply increased shipments of smartphone chips, drive ICs, and system-on-chip for TVs, further boosting their revenues.
TRI's statistics show that Taiwan's IC design sector generated revenue of US$4.04 billion in Q1 and US$4.21 billion in Q2, bringing H1 revenue to US$8.25 billion, up 13.6% from US$7.26 billion in the same half of last year.
The H1 growth of Taiwan's IC design sector is estimated to far outperform that of the global IC design industry as a whole. The global IC design industry is projected to generate revenue of US$40 billion in H1, 2014, up around US$7% from US$37.4 billion of a year ago.
In the H2 this year, the global industry is projected to generate revenue of around US$46.1 billion, up 3% from the corresponding figure of US$44.8 billion of a year earlier and 15% from the first half of this year. TRI estimates Taiwan's IC design sector to lag behind the global industry in H2 in revenue due to the late entry into several key markets, and the high comparison base of the second quarter.
TRI also believes China to be among the growth drivers of the global IC design industry in H2 of this year with its accelerating 4G project, which will drive demand for 4G LTE ICs, 802.11ac ICs and drive ICs for full high definition (FHD) screens. Also important are the upcoming new products from Apple and Google, and the continued expansion of data centers and telecommunications infrastructure worldwide for 4G and the Internet of Things (IoT) markets. (KL)
Revenue for Taiwan and Global IC Design Sectors in 2013, Q1~Q3 2014
Unit: US$1bn
| Revenue\Quarter | Q1 ‘13
| Q2 ‘13
| Q3 ‘13
| Q4 ‘13
| Q1 ‘14
| Q2 ‘14
| Q3 '14 (f)
| Q4 '14 (f)
|
| Taiwan
| 3.4
| 3.8
| 4.2
| 4.1
| 4
| 4.2
| 4
| 4
|
| QoQ change (%)
| -3.1
| 11.6
| 9.7
| -1.4
| -2.5
| 4.3
| -5
| 1.8
|
| Global
| 17.2
| 20.1
| 23
| 21.7
| 19.2
| 20.8
| 23.5
| 22.6
|
| QoQ change (%)
| -17.2
| 16.7
| 14.3
| -5.4
| -11.6
| 8.1
| 13.1
| -3.8
|
Note: Q3 and Q4, 2014 figures are forecasts