Taiwan's optoelectronic output value grows 26% annually in the first half of 2021
Although the global epidemic is still lingering in the first half of this year (2021), large-scale stimulus plans have been launched in various countries, and global economic demand is still showing a steady recovery trend. According to the statistics of the Taiwan Optoelectronics Technology Industry Association (PIDA), the output value of the optoelectronics industry in the first half of this year has reached NT 8081 billion RMB, an annual growth of 26.4%. Flat panel displays have also benefited from the rise of the housing economy, raw materials and components such as remote work. Factors such as shortages have stimulated the increase in panel prices and volume, with the largest annual growth rate of 36.4% in the optoelectronic industry, once again becoming the locomotive of boosting Taiwan's optoelectronic output value.
PIDA pointed out that in response to the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, consumers will go to work and class at home, as well as online games and e-commerce "home economic behavior". In addition, the recent short-term shortage of glass substrates, driver ICs and other components continues to increase. As a result, the price of large-size panels continued to rise, which in turn led to a substantial increase in the output value of the entire flat-panel display industry, and ended the negative growth of the flat-panel display industry's output value from the first half of 2018. In the first half of this year, Taiwan's flat-panel display output value, including panels, backlight modules, touch panels, and electronic paper, was N.T. 529.6 billion RMB, with an annual growth rate of 36.4%.
At the same time, as consumers have higher and higher demand for the quality of mobile phone photos, and the introduction of 3D facial recognition and Time of Flight (TOF) devices, the number of mobile phone lenses and the pixels of the sensor chip are both increasing trend; the popularization and development of self-driving systems has also allowed more and more image sensors to be installed in cars, promoting the growth of image sensor output according to demand. In the first half of this year, it reached NT9 billion RMB, an annual growth rate of 26.7%.
Coupled with the introduction of Mini LED backlight technology in Apple iPad Pro and Samsung TVs, and the explosion of demand for new display applications such as Micro LED, the overall supply and demand of the LED industry has improved, and the output value of LED lighting has gradually grown to N.T. 65.5 billion RMB, an annual growth rate of 12%.
In addition, the most directly affected by this wave of epidemic is the surge in demand for medical and anti-epidemic-related supplies. The output value of biomedical optoelectronics is NT$31.8 billion, an annual growth of 22.5%; and the global 5G infrastructure, which has been deferred since 2020, The demand for data centers has spurred the output value of laser applications and optical communications industries to reach NT22.7 billion and 51.4 billion, respectively, with annual growth of 8.9% and 16.4%.
PIDC is also optimistic that U.S. President Biden will return to the "Paris Climate Agreement" immediately after he takes office in 2020, and vigorously promotes the Green New Deal, thereby prohibiting the import of all products made in Xinjiang, China, including solar energy, which is expected to bring transfer orders to Taiwanese factories. Business opportunities; and the European Union’s plan to impose a carbon tax in 2023, which has caused countries to increase their green infrastructure construction. This has led to a rapid increase in demand for solar devices, resulting in Taiwan’s photovoltaic industry with an output value of NT35.4 billion, an annual growth of 14.5%.
The fly in the ointment is that due to the outbreak of the epidemic in India, the world's second largest mobile phone market, in the spring of 2021, mobile phone sales have been sluggish and demand has also fallen. On the other hand, the gradual rise of optical lens factories in mainland China has eroded the market share of some Taiwanese factories, resulting in Taiwan's precision optics output value of NT$40.2 billion, and its annual growth rate dropped to -2.85%. However, if the peak season for new machines such as Apple arrives in the second half of the year, the performance of precision optics manufacturers should be expected to bid farewell to the haze of the first half of the year, and then pick up again quarter by quarter.
PIDC said that as the epidemic slows down in the future, countries are optimistic about the economic outlook, and the demand for the optoelectronic industry should be able to maintain growth. However, it must be considered that if the epidemic counterattacks in the fall, the U.S.-China struggle, tight global freight, and rising raw material prices, etc., factors will affect the trend of Taiwan's optoelectronics industry in the second half of this year.