Taiwan's IC Output Value Estimated to Rise 6.9% YoY This Year

Taipei, Aug. 30, 2012 (CENS)--Taiwan's IC industry will see its production value surge by an estimated 6.9% year on year, to NT$1.6 trillion (US$55.6 billion at US$1:NT$30) throughout this year, according to the Industrial Economics & Knowledge Research Center (IEK) of the government-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).

The center recently released a study forecasting that Taiwan's IC industry bottomed out in the first quarter of the year, grew at medium growth rate in the second and third quarters, and will increase at moderate rate in the fourth quarter.

In the second quarter, the Taiwan industry's revenue gained 16.4% from a quarter earlier, to NT$419.3 billion (US$13.9 billion), with the IC manufacturing sector surging the most.

By subdivision breakdown, the island's IC design sector generated revenue of NT$101 billion (US$3.3 billion) in the second quarter, soaring 12.8% from the previous quarter. Growth momentum mostly came from strong shipments of chips for low-end smartphones, feature phones and digital TVs.

The IC manufacturing sector's revenue soared 20.6% to NT$218 billion (US$7.2 billion) although increasing only 2.9% from a year earlier. In the meantime, the IC foundry segment alone added 21.2% relative to the first quarter and 12% from the same quarter last year, with the growth mostly ascribed to strong average selling prices of foundry services shored up by excessive contracts mostly from smart device chip vendors.

Memory chip division of the manufacturing sector saw revenue for the second quarter rise 18.5% from a quarter earlier but drop 18.9% from the same quarter last year.

The IC packaging sector had revenue of NT$69.3 billion (US$2.3 billion) in the second quarter, a gain of 11.8% from a quarter earlier. The IC test sector's revenue of NT$30.9 billion (US$1 billion) for the second quarter represented an 11.6% increase over the first quarter.

In the third quarter, the island's IC industry is projected to generate revenue of NT$449.4 billion (US$14.9 billion), up 7.2% from the second quarter. IEK felt that weak demands in the United States, mainland China and Europe would keep Taiwan's IC industry from realizing seasonal surge in the third quarter.

Revenue Results of Taiwan's IC Industry in Q2, 2012 & 2012 Forecast of Taiwan's IC Industry

Unit：NT$100 million

	11Q2	11Q3	11Q4	12Q1	12Q2	Q/Q	Y/Y	12Q3	2010	2011	2012(e)	Annual growth
IC Design Sector	995	979	946	895	1,010	12.8%	1.5%	1,111	4,548	3,856	4,155	7.8%
IC Manufacturing Sector	2,120	1,898	1,820	1,809	2,181	20.6%	2.9%	2,313	8,997	7,867	8,486	7.9%
Silicon Foundry Sector	1,495	1,423	1,378	1,381	1,674	21.2%	12.0%	1,785	5,830	5,729	6,513	13.7%
Memory Chip Manufacturing	625	475	442	428	507	18.5%	-18.9%	528	3,167	2,138	1,973	-7.7%
IC Packaging Sector	688	683	657	620	693	11.8%	0.7%	740	2,870	2,696	2,807	4.1%
IC Test Sector	308	306	294	277	309	11.6%	0.3%	330	1,278	1,208	1,252	3.6%
Total	4,111	3,866	3,717	3,601	4,193	16.4%	1.6%	4,494	17,693	15,627	16,700	6.9%

Source: IEK

Note: Annual figures for 2012 are estimated.