Assembly and test in Japan

摘要

Successful suppliers to the semiconductor industry must acknowledge the importance of Japan in semiconductor manufacturing. Japan is the world's second-largest geographical market in terms of chip sales, and the island nation remains the semiconductor industry's bellwether when it comes to how consumer electronics drive market trends. The latest forecast from World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) shows Japan firmly positioned as No. 2 in chip revenue, trailing the greater Asia Pacific region (i.e., Korea, Taiwan, China, etc.) and leading the Americas and Europe. Japan's semiconductor market accounts for a little more than 20% of global chip revenue, based on WSTS estimates, and its growth is forecasted to exceed that of Europe and the Americas over the next few years (Fig. 1). Furthermore, three of Japan's semiconductor manufacturers are consistently in the top 10 semiconductor sales rankings for the industry: Rene-sas, Toshiba, and NEC (ranked fourth, fifth, and tenth, respectively, based on July 2005 data from IC Insights Inc.).