Cautious Q4 ahead for Taiwan's IC sector

Despite an increase in sales during August and expectations of growth being
maintained during September, it doesn't seem to be all rosy for LCD driver IC
design houses as the fourth quarter is set to arrive.

Taiwan-based LCD driver IC design houses are treading a cautious path much in
line with a fear of what the fourth quarter of 2009 would bring to their
doorsteps. One reason being said as the basis of the fear is that customer
demand might most probably hit a slow lane owing to seasonality issues.

According to a DigiTimes report, IC design houses in Taiwan might get their
act together and begin to adjust orders to foundries as the market is entering
the low season in October. It is also being foreseen by the industry that
packaging and testing prices might nose dive, which in turn might help improve
profits in the fourth quarter.

It has been found that it has been a good August mouth for many players in
the scene. For instance, large-size driver IC maker Raydium Semiconductor posted
record revenues of $24.65 million during the month, thereby seeing an increase
of 7.7 per cent sequentially. Novatek Microelectronics and Orise Technology
posted month-high revenues for the year during August, it has been reported.