Taiwan’s three science parks achieved a record-high turnover of NT$2.16 trillion (US $50.20 billion) in the first half of this year driven in part by the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) said yesterday.
The Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) led the three with its turnover of NT$927.3 billion in the first six months, while the Hsinchu Science Park’s (新竹科學園區) turnover hit NT $738.3 billion and that of the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) logged NT$493.4 billion, the council said.
Total turnover of the three science parks this year is expected to hit NT$4.5 trillion, NSTC Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said at a news conference in Tapiei.
Photo: CNA
The integrated circuit (IC) sector turnover totaled NT$1.686 trillion, comprising a whopping 78 percent of the NT$2.16 trillion total, followed by the optoelectronics sector, which hit NT$208.65 billion, or 9.7 percent, the council's data showed.
“The IC sector has benefited from the AI boom and the need for highly efficient computing, while the optoelectronics growth was boosted by a need for panels at major international sports events this year,” an NSTC official said.
The Southern Taiwan Science Park reported the biggest gain in its turnover, a jump of 36.98 percent, compared to the same period last year. This was followed by a 10.46 percent rise reported by the Hsinchu Science Park and 7.54 percent by the Central Taiwan Science Park.
The IC sector alone in the southern Taiwan park grew 40.02 percent compared to a year earlier in terms of turnover, the council said.
“Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) manufactures its most advanced semiconductors in the southern science park.
“Furthermore, the revenue from TSMC’s advanced process manufacturing accounts for around 60 percent of its total turnover,” Southern Taiwan Science Park Bureau Director-General Cheng Hsiu-jung (鄭秀絨) said.
“I see only a bright future for the [revenue of the] southern park in the next six months,” she added.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has 2nm advanced process fabs in Kaohsiung’s Nanzi Park — which forms part of the Southern Taiwan Science Park.
Furthermore, Cheng said archaeological work on a TSMC construction site in the southern park is expected to be complete by the end of next month. The site will operate as a plant for chip-on-wafter-on-substrate (CoWoS), an advanced packaging technology.
Construction at the packaging plant in Chiayi County was partly halted following the discovery of an archaeological ruin in June.
“TSMC said they expect to start [equipment] installation at the CoWoS plant in the third quarter of 2025,” Cheng said.
Wu agreed with the projection that this year's turnover would hit NT$4.5 trillion, noting that the semiconductor industry tends to perform better in the second half of the year.
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