MIC's industry consultant Chris Hung said that the Taiwanese semiconductor industry will grow higher than the global average in 2014, thanks to the slowdown in PC decline and continued strong sales of mid-to-low-end smart handheld devices. Shipment value of the Taiwanese semiconductor industry is forecast to top around NT$2 trillion (US$70 billion; US$1 = NT$30), up 12% year-on-year. Hung said that IC design and IC manufacturing sectors will perform more outstandingly in 2014, with both sectors seeing a double-digit year-on-year growth.

MIC estimates that in 2014 shipment value of the Taiwanese IC design industry alone will reach approximately NT$51.34 million (US$1.71 million), up 10% year-on-year. According to Hung, with PC market slowing gaining momentum, shipments of smart handheld devices continuing to grow, and increasing demand for wearable devices, Taiwanese IC design houses have been developing corresponding applications in response to market changes.

On top of that, shipments of leading Taiwanese IC design houses - which have a well-rounded product portfolios and an increasing share of shipments for high-end products - are expected to help boost the entire industry's performance in terms of shipment value.

Meanwhile, MIC also estimates that shipment value of Taiwanese IC manufacturing industry will total about NT$1.1 trillion (US$40 billion) in 2014, up 15% year-on-year. The growth owes mainly to strong demand for mobile communications products and increased share of 28nm wafer production.

In addition, panel driver ICs and fingerprint authentication have brought about new demands for high-end IC manufacturing processes and companies involved have been major beneficiaries. The industry is anticipated to continue to grow in the second and third quarters until the fourth quarter where the demand will slow in parallel to the seasonal cycle. Bolstered by a rapid rise in shipment share of 20nm wafers, the industry's shipment value is expected to see a mild decline in the fourth quarter.

The Taiwanese IC packaging and testing industry's shipment value is expected to arrive at about NT$390.6 billion (US$12.02 billion) in 2014, up 6.5% year-on-year. This is mainly attributed to rising demand for communications ICs and consumer electronics products.

Hung further indicated that after the first quarter of 2014, traditionally the weak season, the Taiwanese IC packaging and testing industry will pick up from the second quarter and continue into the third quarter thanks to the growing popularity of 4K2K TVs and fingerprint sensor-embedded gadgets.

Despite the seasonal effect, the industry's shipment value in the fourth quarter of 2014 will manage to see little to no growth or to potentially mild decline, bolstered by increasing share of high-end packaging and testing services.