No.1 Chip Assembler Sees Bright Market Future

Taipei, Sept. 2, 2011 (CENS)--Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE), currently the world's biggest chip assembler, estimated that the semiconductor industry will rise at annual rate of 7% worldwide over the next four years and maintain the 3-6% growth pace it forecast earlier for itself for this quarter alone.

The company's Chief Operation Officer (COO) Tien Wu recently issued the forecast, suggesting the company's optimistic perspective on market future of its industry.

Based on the forecast, contracts for the company's copper wire-bonding packaging, low-pin count packaging, and discrete device packaging services will double in three years, according to Wu.

Despite growing worry about global semiconductor market amid the slowing U.S. economic recovery and the escalating European national debt crisis, Wu stressed that the semiconductor industry is just entering a short-term inventory correction. After the correction, the industry as a whole will begin to ramp up moderately according to past experience. He noted that PC demands are still there although the products have different looks now, making them steady sources of IC demands.

Wu pointed out that the global semiconductor industry has maintained an annual growth rate of 6-9% in recent years except for the steep downturn seen during the 2000 dotcom bubble burst and the 2008 economic turmoil.

Wu asserted that semiconductor demands would persistently grow as it will enter into more applications as automobile, home security system, telemedicine and cloud computing.

Morgan Stanley estimated ASE to be among the world's major contract IC suppliers that will likely benefit from added contracts from Japanese integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) estimated for next year.