Chart of the Day: Here's where our semiconductors go

Semiconductor exports in 2016 largely went into Chinese mid-tier phones.

Whilst semiconductor manufacturing is forecast to grow at a more moderate pace from the second quarter, the good news is that supporting industries are benefitting from the prolonged growth in semiconductor demand.

RHB reported that a late surge in semiconductor demand boosted manufacturing output in 2016, with smartphones and personal computers still the top consumers of semiconductors last year. As for 2016 semiconductor exports, a huge part went into Chinese mid-tier phones.

"In contrast, 2017 would likely be dominated by flagship phone launches, which have lower sales volumes compared to the mid-range to low-end offerings, especially with Chinese carriers opting to stop subsidising new phones and Apple’s iPhone 8 price being expected to top US$1,000 for the first time. All things considered, we expect semiconductor manufacturing to grow at a more moderate pace from 2Q onwards," noted RHB.

It added that the prolonged growth in semiconductor demand is starting to spill over into supporting industries such as precision engineering and plastics sectors.

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia