PRODUCTION VALUE:The Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center said the industry’s design sector is a bright spot amid manufacturers’ continued weakness

Taipei Times
Date: May 22, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The production value of Taiwan’s integrated circuit (IC) industry is estimated to grow at a quarterly rate of 0.4 percent to NT$573.9 billion (US$19 billion) this quarter, but the figure would remain 4.6 percent lower than the same period last year, the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) said last week.

The IEK said the output growth momentum for the IC industry would likely see a substantial recovery next quarter at the earliest, with production value reaching NT$696.3 billion, up 21.3 percent quarter-on-quarter and 5.6 percent year-over-year.

The IC industry covers chip design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, with the manufacturing segment accounting for more than 50 percent of the industry’s total production value.

Given the continued weakness among local manufacturers, output of the manufacturing segment is forecast to fall by 6.4 percent sequentially to NT$300.4 billion this quarter, after an 11 percent decline in the first quarter, the center said.
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