TAIPEI, Taiwan - In 2019 Taiwan’s communications industry has been impacted by the US-China trade war; however, the effects have been limited with the yearly output value increasing slightly to NT$3.6 trillion. The Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC) forecasts that the impact of the US-China trade war will still be felt in the first half of 2020; however, the shipment of new 5G and Wi-Fi 6 specifications will drive growth in the output value of Taiwan’s communications industry. The output value of 2020 (including exported communications components) is expected to amount to nearly NT$3.7 trillion, which will be a 1.1% increase from 2019.
The Institute for Information Industry (III) MIC stated that the influence of the US-China trade war and the Huawei ban have been felt in 2019 with smartphone shipments decreasing globally; nevertheless, 5G commercial applications in markets such as Mainland China will benefit shipments of local mobile phone brands.
In addition, the appearance of middle and high-end 5G SoC solutions will be of assistance in reducing the prices of 5G mobile phones to US$250. Furthermore, brand name manufacturers are actively planning 5G mobile phones, and Apple is expected to launch a 5G mobile phone in 2020. This will help to drive the next wave of changes, and with global smartphone shipments rebounding to an anticipated 1.46 billion units in 2020, the output value of Taiwan’s smartphone industry is expected to reach NT$2.4 trillion.
In anticipation of the development of the wireless communication industry in 2020, III MIC stated that the increasing popularity of Wi-Fi 6 will be a focus of attention. By mid to late-2020, the next generation of Wi-Fi 6 is expected to drive other mobile phone manufacturers to follow suit with the adoption of Wi-Fi 6 for more mobile phones, routers and other products, and this will further accelerate the popularization of Wi-Fi 6.
(TR/ Phil Sweeney)
