Taiwan is poised to overtake Japan in 2011 as the world’s largest semiconductor materials market, according to data from SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International).
SEMI, a global trade organization, also said Taiwan’s market grew from $6.87 billion in 2009 to approximatelyS$9.11 billion in 2010, growing 36.2%.
Meanwhile the global semiconductor material market rose 25% last year over the previous year to a value of $43.55 billion, representing a new peak since 2007, when it reached $42.67 billion.
Taking steps to maintain growth in its IT industry, the Taiwanese government is also said to be taking steps to improve the competitiveness of the domestic chip industry, which accounts for nearly half of the market capitalization on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).
With their focus on marketing, design, masking, production, testing, and packaging, Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing firms have had a huge effect on the momentum of vertical disintegration in the global industry. Taiwan also exerts a strong influence over the Chinese semiconductor market as a whole.
Taiwan’s National Science Council (NSC) has apparently been fostering ties between universities, research organizations and semiconductor companies to develop innovative technologies to enhance the island’s technological edge in the market.
The results of the collaboration are already bearing fruit, with Taiwan’s National Chip Implementation Center (CIC) already announcing a new method of churning out chips which purportedly cuts development time by two-thirds while also slashing costs in half.
The way it works is by stacking chip modules on top of each other, enabling higher density of electronic components on a circuit board. It’s thought to be an important innovation for the mobile industry, with the industry trend swinging from PCs to mobile handsets and smaller devices.
Taiwanese chip making power house Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) – the world’s biggest chipmaker – is also a key partner in developing the new technology and with its steady flow of income – roughly $1.2 billion in net profit in the first quarter of 2011- it certainly has the cash to spend.
TSMC recently said it estimates the company’s sales for 2011 will rise 20% from 2010 and that it also expected its sales for the second quarter to rise 3.4% to 5.3% from the first quarter.
The firm also plans to double output capacity to an equivalent of over 20 million 200mm wafers in five years.
Other major semiconductor firms in Taiwan include UMC (United Microelectronics Corporation) and Mediatek, a fabless semiconductor company.
