Review & Outlook of Taiwan's Semiconductor Industry

Impacted by the traditionally low season, reduced number of work days, and weak global demand for smartphones, tablets, and PCs, the overall output value of Taiwan's IC industry in 1Q15 fell to NT$570.6 billion, a 3.3% decline from 4Q14. Looking at the IC design industry, IC shipments decreased by about 10%, impacting the revenue of Taiwan's communications companies. An output value of NT$136 billion represents a 9.6% decline from 4Q14 but an 8.5% increase compared to the first quarter of last year. IC manufacturing was impacted by falling demand causing manufacturers to make inventory adjustments. Output value stood at NT$325.9 billion, a slight 0.5% decline from 4Q14, but a substantial 32.6% increase compared to the same period of the previous year. Of which, the output value of wafer foundries is NT$264.8 billion, a 1.2% decline from the previous quarter but a 46.5% increase from the same period last year. Due to an increase in the number of servers and stable prices, the output value of memory chip manufacturers stood at NT$61.1 billion, a slight growth of 2.3% from the previous quarter but a decline of 6.1% compared to the same period of last year. The IC packaging and testing sectors were impacted by upstream IC design and IC manufacturing, resulting in a output value of NT$108.7 billion. This is a slight decrease of 2.9% compared to the past quarter but a 6.0% increase compared to the same period of last year.