CNA
February 8, 2015, 12:02 am TWN
TAIPEI -- The production value of Taiwan's semiconductor sector hit a new high in 2014, with the integrated circuit manufacturing and design segments generating growth, according to the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK).
The IEK, a research unit under the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute, said the output value of Taiwan's semiconductor sector reached NT$2.2 trillion (US$69.84 billion), up 16.7 percent from a year earlier.
The production value of the IC design segment in 2014 grew 19.8 percent from 2013 to NT$576.3 billion, the highest level of growth among the four sub-segments of the domestic semiconductor sector.
The leading company in the segment was MediaTek Inc., the largest IC designer in Taiwan.
Its sales in 2014 grew 56.6 percent year-on-year to NT$213.06 billion after it completed a deal to fully bring smaller rival MStar Semiconductor Inc. under its corporate umbrella in early February.
MediaTek has benefited from strong demand for smartphone and tablet chips, in particular from Chinese buyers, and its strong sales growth pushed up output of the IC design segment as a whole, the IEK said.
The IC manufacturing segment's output value rose 17.7 percent in 2014 from a year earlier to NT$1.17 trillion, the first time the segment's production value exceeded the NT$1 trillion level, the IEK said.
The brisk sales growth posted by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) spurred the overall strength of the IC manufacturing segment, the IEK said.
Boosted by strong demand for chips made on its advanced 20 nanometer and 28nm processes, TSMC had consolidated sales of NT$762.81 billion last year, up 27.77 percent from a year earlier.
The local IC packaging and testing services segment in 2014 underperformed the overall semiconductor sector in terms of production value.
The output value of the IC packaging business rose 11.1 percent to NT$316 billion last year, while the output value of the IC testing business gained 8.9 percent to NT$137.9 billion.
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