TSMC Chairman Morris Chang: IOT to Drive World's Semiconductor Industry in Future

With smart handheld devices increasingly popular with consumers to have broadening applications, the Internet of Things (IOT) is expected to emerge as one of the world's most profitable industries to drive the semiconductor sector in the future, said Morris Chang, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC), the largest semiconductor foundry in the world.

At an annual general meeting held earlier by Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association, Chang shared the above-mentioned view as he spoke on the topic “Next Big Thing.”

Chang emphasized that global IC and semiconductor suppliers will keep gaining steam from persistently strong market demand for smart devices, including smartphones and tablet PCs, in the next three years at least, and said that TSMC is among the beneficiaries, including Qualcomm and United Microelectronics, amid the smart-device boom by posting a stronger growth than the industry's average of 3-5% in the past few years. Under the scenario, the chairman added that he is quite optimistic about market prospects throughout this year.

In the next five to 10 years, IOT will emerge as the fastest-growing industry to serve as the next big thing after smart devices for the global semiconductor industry, stated Chang. He continued that to firmly seize the business potential, TSMC has been developing advanced packaging technology and ICs with low power consumption and for wearable electronic devices, which will become the key factors for insiders to sustainably develop in the future.

Chang also pointed out that players to lead development of the global market for IOT will likely include Google, Amazon, Apple and Alibaba, but semiconductor firms will play pivotal roles in the trend, primarily because development of IOT will call for their intensive support. (SC)

Growth Forecast of Global IC Production
Year	Production Value	Year-on-year Growth Rate
2015	US$225.55 Bn.	7.5%
2014	US$209.81 Bn.	11.1%
2013	US$188.86 Bn.	15.6%
2012	US$163.42 Bn.	4.6%
2011	US$156.27 Bn.	- 11.7%
2010	US$176.93 Bn.	38.3%

Source: Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association