The production value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry grew 20.9 percent year-on-year to NT$3.22 trillion (US$113.6 billion) last year, and it is expected to build on that performance this year, the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s (工研院) Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center said yesterday.
The global semiconductor market grew 6.8 percent to US$440.4 billion last year, boosted by robust demand from the digital transformation and growing stay-at-home economy seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, the center said.
That strength is likely to carry over to this year, leading to an 8.6 percent increase in domestic output to a new record NT$3.49 trillion, the center forecast.
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Taiwan’s semiconductor industry includes IC manufacturing, design and packaging. Its chip manufacturing capabilities and complete supply chain have enabled the industry to stand out from other competitors and dominate the global marketplace.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) alone accounts for more than 50 percent of the global contract chipmaking market.
TSMC and a smaller chipmaker, United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), set record sales last year at NT$1.33 trillion and NT$176.8 billion respectively, the center said.
Last year, the domestic IC design sector saw production rise 23.1 percent to NT$852.9 billion, while the output of the IC testing sector and packaging sector grew 11.1 percent and 9 percent to NT$171.5 billion and NT$377.5 billion respectively, the center said.
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