Taiwan chip designers count down trend
Taiwan, with the world’s second-largest chip design industry, has some companies that have countered a slump in the global economy by tapping emerging markets such as China.
The strategy has helped the chip designers boost sales.
MediaTek, said to be the world’s seventh-largest chip designer, has announced earnings up 5.1% in the third quarter over the same period a year earlier primarily because of strong sales in China.
The company, which counts on mobile phone chips for most of its revenue, had sales growth that outpaced gains in the overall handset industry.
US market research firm IDC said in an October 30 statement that mobile phone manufacturers shipped a total of 299.0 million handsets in the third quarter, up 3.2% from last year.
“Handset vendors felt the pressures of the dismal economy in the third quarter of 2008 and, as a result, shipments and revenues were down almost across the board,” said Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC.
Global Unichip, Taiwan’s third-largest chip designer, had a 37% gain in third-quarter revenue compared with the same period a year earlier, based on information the company provided to the Taiwan stock exchange.
Still, many of Taiwan’s chip designers could not escape the downturn in the global economy. For 11 of Taiwan’s listed chip designers, their overall third-quarter revenues fell by more than 19% over the same period a year ago.
Global chip design revenue rose 9% year over year, the Global Semiconductor Alliance reported. During the quarter, chip design revenue equalled 21% of total worldwide chip revenue, according to the GSA, a market research organisation that includes chip companies around the world among its members.
Worldwide semiconductor revenue was US$67.4 billion in the second quarter of 2008, rising 5% year over year, the GSA said.
As bullishness turns to caution, Asia–Pacific organisations are expected to delay computer hardware upgrades and large technology projects and focus on efforts to improve client retention and acquisition, technology research firm Gartner said.
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