According to MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute), shipment value of the Taiwanese IC packaging and testing industry, which witnessed growth in the first half of 2013, continued to surge in the third quarter of 2013. The industry's third-quarter shipment value reached approximately US$3.27 billion, up 5% sequentially and 7.4% year-on-year. The industry's shipment value hit record highs consecutively in the second and third quarter of 2013.
In the fourth quarter, shipment value of the industry is estimated at US$3.2 billion, down 1.9% sequentially. In the second half of 2013, the combined shipment value of the industry topped about US$6.4 billion, up 9% compared to the first half of 2013 and up 5.1% compared to the second half of last year.
In the third quarter of 2013, the industry's growth momentum still came mainly from smartphones and wireless communications devices. However, as the sales of high-end smartphones and tablets began to slow down in the third quarter of 2013, the rise of mid-range and entry-level smarpthones has become one of major growth factors in the industry. This is mainly ascribed to strong demand shifts from feature phones to smartphones in China and other emerging countries and the replacement demand for large-screen smartphones with improved features.
In the second half of 2013, except smartphones and tablets, sales of large-sized LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) TVs weakened compared to the first half of 2013 and the seasonal demand was not as manifest as before. Looking at PC products, Windows 8 did not bring significant growth as expected. Owing to several game consoles introduced, the sales of consumer electronic products were relatively stable.
As for chip packaging, the adoption share of chips with advanced packaging technologies such as FCCSP (Flip-Chip Chip Scale Package) and FCBGA (Flip-Chip Ball Grid Array) has been increasing in response mainly to the growing demand for smart handheld and communications devices. In the first half of 2013, the adoption of metal solder bumps used in wafer-level packaging - one of the fast growth areas in the first half of 2013 - was decreased slightly owing to the declining demand for large-sized panel driver ICs. Meanwhile, copper wire bonding accounted for over 50% of total wire bonding thanks to the efforts made by ASE Kaohsiung and SPIC (Siliconware Precision Industries Co).
In the second half of 2013, Apple launched the iPhone 5S whose fingerprint scanner has made the gadget one of most popular ones and has expected to see the advent of other smartphones with a built-in fingerprint scanner, representing lucrative business opportunities for Taiwanese IP packaging and testing companies. For IC testing, fueled by the growing mid-range and entry-level smartphones and increased testing time for chips, companies in those segments had grown rapidly. But this is not the case for sensors and MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System)-based sensors, whose sales weakened due mainly to inventory adjustments in the upstream segment of the industry.
Shipment Value of the Taiwanese IC Packaging and Testing Industry, 3Q 2011 – 1Q 2014
Source: MIC, January 2013
For future receipt of press releases, or more information about MIC research findings, please contact MIC Public Relations.
About MIC
Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), based in Taipei, Taiwan, was founded in 1987. MIC is Taiwan's premier IT industry research and consulting firm providing intelligence, in-depth analysis, and strategic consulting services on global IT product and technology trends, focusing on markets and industries in Asia-Pacific. MIC is part of the Institute for Information Industry. https://mic.iii.org.tw/english