The global semiconductor supply shortage that began in the automotive industry continues, and market demand has surged, driving the semiconductor market to a new sales high. Data from the China Semiconductor Industry Association shows that China’s integrated circuit industry will maintain rapid growth in the first quarter of 2021.

According to statistics from the China Semiconductor Industry Association, in the first quarter of 2021, China’s integrated circuit industry sales were 173.93 billion yuan, an increase of 18.1% year-on-year. The amount was 54.21 billion yuan; the packaging and testing industry increased by 7.3% year-on-year, with sales of 47.95 billion yuan.

According to customs statistics, China imported 155.27 billion integrated circuits in the first quarter of 2021, a year-on-year increase of 33.6%; the value of imports was US$93.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29.9%. The export of integrated circuits was 73.7 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 42.7%; the export value was US$31.46 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31.7%.

In addition, according to data released by the American Semiconductor Association (SIA), in the first quarter of 2021, global semiconductor product sales amounted to US$123.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.8% and a month-on-month increase of 3.6%. It exceeded the $122.7 billion in the third quarter of 2018, setting a new high.

In 2020, the scale of my country’s integrated circuit market will exceed 140 billion U.S. dollars, or approximately 990 billion yuan (calculated at the average exchange rate of U.S. dollars to renminbi in 2020). The output value of my country’s chip manufacturing has also increased to a certain extent, but this output value data includes the output value contributed by foreign and Chinese Taiwanese companies investing in manufacturing plants in mainland China. Only the Chinese mainland company’s chip manufacturing output value in 2020 is only 8.3 billion US dollars. Compared with the market size of hundreds of billions of dollars, the products manufactured by mainland chip companies only meet 5.8% of domestic demand.

China is the country with the most complete industrial categories in the world and has played the role of the “world factory” for many years. Although China is the world’s largest manufacturer of notebook computers and mobile phones, most of its chips rely on imports. In 2020, the scale of China’s integrated circuit market has exceeded one trillion, but the import and export trade balance is as high as 233.44 billion U.S. dollars, and demand is highly dependent on imports.

Due to the large capital needs of the IC-related industries and the long investment return period, the investment behavior of my country’s IC industry presents a relatively obvious policy-oriented feature. On December 19, 2016, the State Council publicly released the “Thirteenth Five-Year” National Strategic Emerging Industry Development Plan, which mentioned “initiating a major integrated circuit productivity layout planning project, implementing a number of leading projects, and promoting the industry Ability to achieve a rapid leap”. Data shows that in 2017 after the policy was released, the market’s investment in the integrated circuit industry increased by nearly 20 times, approaching 170 billion yuan. In the following years, the enthusiasm for investment in integrated circuits has declined. In August 2020, the State Council issued the “Several Policies to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Integrated Circuit Industry and Software Industry in the New Era”, and the investment market has become hot again.

Link to this article：Under the background of global chip shortage, Q1 sales of China’s integrated circuit industry reached 173.93 billion yuan