TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The global semiconductor market is forecast to grow by 10.9 percent this year, with sales expected to reach US$488.3 billion, according to one Taiwanese think tank.

The momentum is likely to be sustained all through 2022, with 12.7 percent projected growth, according to the Institute for Information Industry’s Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC). The forecast was provided during a forum being held online between May 19 and 31.

The four driving forces of the semiconductor market are sales of laptops, 5G applications, high-performance-computing (HPC) devices, and automobile electronics. Demand for communications and automobile products has been picking up steadily over the years, wrote UDN.

Taiwan registered an output value of NT$2.93 trillion (US$104.9 billion), or 22 percent annual growth, for semiconductors in 2020. This stellar performance could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed up the need for laptops, HPC equipment, and cellphone chips.

Taiwan is expected to log another 11.4 percent growth in 2021 to achieve an output of NT$3.26 trillion.

As for the global outlook, Cheng Kai-an (鄭凱安), senior industrial analyst at MIC, believes that whether COVID is brought under control will directly affect inventory adjustment for semiconductors in the second half of this year. Meanwhile, the U.S.' trade restrictions on China will influence IC design companies’ decisions on foundry locations.