Booming electronics boosts semis

This article was published by the Taiwan News on March 11, 2006. It reports that the booming consumer electronics sector in Taiwan spells good news for the nation's semiconductor industry. Statistics show that Taiwan is currently the third largest semiconductor in the world. Taiwan manufacturers produce 15 percent of the world's semiconductors, and is home to well-established design, manufacturing, and packaging and testing companies.

According to a recent report commissioned by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, Taiwan's semiconductor companies used to rely on the nation's thriving computer industry. However, these companies have now realigned their strategies to include the production of higher margin semiconductors for consumer electronics devices. This new strategy puts Taiwan in a strong position, as both the nation's IT (Internet Technology) and CE (Consumer Electronics) industries are experiencing high growth. Such combination may be enough to propel Taiwan into becoming the world's second largest IC (Integrated Circuits) nation.

According to the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association, Taiwan's IC industry had a production value of US$32.8 billion in 2004. That amount was projected to reach US$34.2 billion in 2005. Meanwhile, other industry analysts predict that the worldwide semiconductor industry will see strong growth on new technologies, particularly in the wireless, broadband equipment and consumer electronics segments. The market for video game consoles is also likely to double by 2008.

According to industry analysts, although the PC market has slowed down slightly, the notebook segment continues to pick up, so that the number of compute semiconductors across two platforms is likely to further increase. Meanwhile, demand for digital consumer products, such as flash cards, MP3 players and new gaming devices, has also helped driving the semiconductor industry in recent years.