The IEK, a unit of the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute, said the strong growth also reflected rising demand for automotive chips.
The IEK forecast that the Taiwan IC sector's output will reach NT$3.8 trillion (US$135.51 billion) in 2021, up 18.1 percent from a year earlier, an upward revision of the IEK's previous estimate of 8.6 percent growth made in February.
Output in the IC manufacturing segment should grow 14.8 percent from a year earlier to NT$2.08 trillion in 2021, while the production value of the IC design segment is expected to grow 30.5 percent to NT$1.11 trillion.
The IC testing packaging and testing segments are expected to generate output worth NT$411.9 billion and NT$190 billion, respectively, in 2021, up 9.1 percent and 10.8 percent from a year earlier, the IEK said.
The revised forecast for 2021 came after Taiwan's IC sector reported better-than-expected quarter-on-quarter growth in the first quarter. Output rose 2.6 percent from the previous quarter to NT$904.7 billion, beating the IEK's forecast of a 2.1 percent fall because the first quarter is usually the industry's slow season.
In the first quarter, the production value of the IC manufacturing segment was NT$500.1 billion, up 1.4 percent from a quarter earlier, while the IC design segment's production value hit NT$260.2 billion, up 5.3 percent, according to the IEK.
The outputs of the IC packaging and testing segments for the quarter totaled NT$98.4 billion and NT$46.0 billion, respectively, up 0.4 percent and 5.7 percent from a year earlier.
For the second quarter, the output of the IC industry is expected to grow 2.6 percent from the first quarter to NT$928.3 billion, the IEK said.
