The production value of Taiwan's IC design industry is forecast to rise 14.3% sequentially to NT$140.07 billion (US$4.58 billion) in the second quarter of 2015, buoyed mainly by a seasonal pick-up in shipments for smartphones, according to Digitimes Research.
Taiwan's IC design industry, led by MediaTek and the local major LCD driver IC specialists, posted production value of NT$122.5 billion in the first quarter of 2015. Affected by seasonal factors and fewer working days in February as a result of the Lunar New Year holiday, the production value for the first quarter was 11.4% lower than the prior quarter's level, said Digitimes Research.
In the first quarter, MediaTek suffered a revenue decrease of 14.3% sequentially while Novatek Microelectronics and Himax Technologies both saw their revenues decline more than 16%, Digitimes Research observed.
Combined revenues of Taiwan's top-10 IC design houses experienced a 12.2% sequential drop, due to weaker smartphone demand in China, inventory adjustments at Korea-based panel vendors, as well as falling DRAM prices, Digitimes Research noted.
