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EE
Joined: 16 Jun 2026
Posts: 107
Location: Paranaque City, Phils.
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 Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2025 3:05 pm Post subject: Local Electronics Sector Warns of Collapse |
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Got this from email...
EE
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Electronics sector warns of collapse
Date : 10/22/2003
Source: Business World
The local electronics industry may collapse within five years unless the government and private companies start working together to resuscitate the ailing sector.
This was predicted yesterday by electronics companies themselves, a year after they had projected a 350% growth for the industry by 2008.
"All is not lost, but if we do not do something about it, we will lose this industry...Not all of us are in the same boat. Not all of us are surviving here.
Many companies have shut down and moved to China," said First Sumiden Circuits president Dan Lachica during the 5th CEO Forum of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI).
Chief executive officers of eight electronics and semiconductor companies participated in the forum, where they took turns scoring the government for failing to provide the support the industry needs to grow.
Mr. Lachica was joined by executives of Toshiba Information Equipment Phils. Inc., Cypress Manufacturing Ltd., Amkor Technology Phils., Moog Controls Corp., DHL Philippines, Intel Technology Phils., Airfreight 2100 Inc., Integrated Microelectronics Inc., PSI Technologies Inc., and American Power Conversion.
'PERENNIAL PROBLEMS'
The executives cited the perennial problems of poor infrastructure, high power rates, and the lack of government assistance in convincing global electronics giants like Intel to manufacture "wafer" in the country.
Intel Microprocessor factory manager Mon Salazar said Intel carefully considered the need and capacity of a country before investing in wafer manufacturing. A small wafer facility costs at least $20 million to build, while a competitive facility costs some $1 billion.
"There are no discussions on putting up a wafer fab in the Philippines or in Asia," Mr. Salazar said.
Arthur Young, chairman and CEO of PSI Technologies, Inc., the first Philippine electronics company listed in Nasdaq, added that the government should be more pro-active and aid companies in crucial areas. "It should reverse the slide in investments," he said.
The semiconductor industry earlier projected investments for the sector to reach $1 billion this year. Based on SEIPI data, only $53 million was invested between January and April.
The industry recorded investments of $270 million in 2002, its lowest since 1993. SEIPI is again targeting $1 billion in investments next year.
As earlier projected by SEIPI, $40 billion to $50 billion in additional investments were needed in the next four years for the industry to reach its $100-billion or 350% export growth target. Its rule of thumb is, a $1 investment results in $3 in export earnings.
Integrated Microelectronics, Inc. president Arthur R. Tan said that while some government agencies like the Board of Investments and the Department of Trade and Industry have been supportive of SEIPI and its members, other agencies have not been as sympathetic.
"The government has not been totally impervious, but other departments such as those involved in the areas of infrastructure, security, education and finances could do more. The government may be listening, but it has limited resources," he added.
'BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA'
In reaction to the complaints, Socioeconomic Planning Sec. Romulo Neri, the only government representative in the forum, said the industry should "not blame the government as much" for its woes.
"We realize your problems, but it is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. We cannot do the impossible," he said.
He noted that as much as the government wanted to help the electronics sector, the country's main export winner, it labored under certain constraints. He noted, for instance, that if the government unilaterally reduced power rates, state-run National Power Corp." would go down the drain."
Aside from calling for a moratorium on electricity price increases, SEIPI members also pressed for keeping tax rates in economic zones at 5%, and their exemption from the legislated minimum wage.
"Continue to persevere but be patient. I know there is a lot of frustration. There are many structural issues but we have to chip these little by little," Mr. Neri said.
He also said multinationals could very well take care of their funding requirements and did not need to depend on the government.
At most, the government could remove the "bureaucratic inertia" for them, he added.
NO MORE TIME
But Amkor Technology Phils. Mike Petrucci said the industry no longer had time to wait for the government "to chip away" at problems.
"We cannot wait a year...China is not a threat to us but the Philippines itself," he said. "The upturn is today. It has been here. It will be easier if we and government work closely. We cannot do it ourselves." |
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D. Pekto
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| Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2025 11:35 am Post subject: |
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We already know what's causing our industry to collapse: cost. Talo tayo sa production cost ng iba. Matagal na nating alam to pero wala pa akong nakikitang pareto ng cost contributors sa industry as a whole. Kutob ko ay ayaw mag-share ng data ng mga GM's kaya hindi ito ma-address as a whole. Kanya-kanya pa rin.
D. Pekto
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Wine Lover
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| Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2025 9:57 am Post subject: |
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Depekto, here's the answer to your question from the customer's POV.
Wine Lover
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Philippines losing Japanese firms to China
By Al Labita
In Manila , Business Times
28 May 2026
HIGH production costs, poor infrastructure, and security concerns are driving some Japanese companies in the Philippines to China, although officials say only a few have pulled up stakes so far.
Toshiba Corp leads the pack as it shifts its personal computer manufacturing plant to Hangzhou to cut costs and boost its global competitiveness in the wake of plunging profits.
NEC Corp, also wanting to trim operating costs, is shutting down its production of hard disk drives and laying off its entire 1,400-strong workforce. It is moving to Shanghai.
The high-profile pullout followed Japan Chamber of Commerce's (JCC warning that Manila was fast losing Japanese investors not only to China but also to Vietnam and Thailand.
'In these countries, production cost is much lower than in the Philippines and yet products being made there are of the same quality,' said JCC Philippines president Shoichi Kameyama.
'The only distinct advantage the Philippines has over competing countries is its workforce who speak English and are IT (information technology) literate,' he said.
Japanese businessmen also cautioned the Philippines against mandating a rise of the workers' daily minimum wage from US$5 to US$7, one of the highest in the region.
They note that China's wage rate is less than US$1 per day and should Manila jack up its daily minimum wage, it would price itself out of the foreign investment market.
Power cost is another adverse factor, said the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc (Seipi), a grouping of 600 technology-based companies, most of them Japanese.
The Philippines' electricity cost is almost US$0.08 per kilowatt-hour as against a little above US$0.04 in China, said Seipi executive director Ernesto Santiago.
A Seipi report shows that while the electronics industry, which accounts for more than 50 per cent of Philippine exports, hired 6,800 workers last year, it laid off 15,000. Investments also slumped from US$1.24 billion in 2000 to US$720 million last year.
Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas admits that China has edged out the Philippines and other neighbouring countries as foreign investment havens.
He reckoned that China has absorbed roughly 80 per cent of all investments in Asia, leaving the Philippines and other countries in the region slugging it out for the remaining 20 per cent.
To beat China, the official said, Manila is now drafting changes in the Omnibus Investments Act to offer foreign investors a generous package of incentives.
These would include raising the maximum income tax holiday from eight to 12 years, lowering of gross income tax to 5 per cent and duty-free importation of capital equipment.
But officials downplayed the Japanese retreat, saying it was limited mainly to the electronics sector which is reeling from a faltering market demand due to a global economic downturn.
President Arroyo recently inaugurated a US$100 million manufacturing plant of computer parts maker Sankyo Seiki, describing it as a 'vote of confidence' in the Philippine economy. |
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semicon girl
Joined: 19 Jun 2026
Posts: 9
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2025 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Got this too from the news. Power cost seems to be the main issue.
semicon girl
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Problems on security, power, & infrastructure hamper investments on electronics sector
Concerns over security, high power cost and poor infrastructure deter further investments in the Philippine electronics and semiconductor sectors, according to the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. (SEIPI).
SEIPI, thus, warns the government to address these concerns for the country to attract new semiconductor and electronics firms as well as to encourage existing firms to expand their operations.
SEIPI director Arthur R. Tan said in a phone interview yesterday that the government must address these problems seriously as the electronics and semiconductor industries are the main drivers in the Philippine economy. Electronics products account for about 70% of Philippine exports.
"If there's no change in the current situation, in a five-year period, this industry [semicon and electronics] will go away," Mr. Tan said.
Of the three concerns, Mr. Tan said companies, especially the multinational firms, were complaining mostly about the increasing power cost.
Power cost accounts 40% of the total expenses of an electronics or semiconductor firm, which is next to labor cost.
"From January to August, our power bills increased by 30% compared last year (the same period). This is not acceptable," Mr. Tan said.
"The industry's sharing in foreign direct investments (FDIs) is going down in a very fast phase. Even in revenue target, the companies are not meeting it," Mr. Tan added.
Last year, he noted that FDIs from semiconductor and electronics firms posted less than $270 million. As of end-August this year, Mr. Tan said that the FDIs was valued at $53 million. Thus, he noted that SEIPI is only expecting over $100 million FDIs by the end of the year.
Mr. Tan explained that there are hardly new investors in the semiconductor and electronics sector as well as expansion programs from the existing companies.
The National Statistical Coordination Boardİİ (NSCB) said in its second quarter report this year that FDIs registered with the country's main investments promotion agencies amounted to PhP7.1B during the second quarter of 2003, 73% lower than the PhP 26.3B posted in the second quarter of 2002.
SEIPI suggested that the government and the industry should have collaborative efforts to address the above-mentioned concerns, Mr. Tan said.
Aside from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Board of Investments (BoI) and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), other government agencies should be aware of the industry's concerns. The three agencies, for instance, could not address security and infrastructure problems. -- Maricel E. Burgonio |
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Filipino Engr in Taiwan
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2025 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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Fellow Engrs,
Cost may be a major factor with the possible pull out from the Philippines, but what may be the reason why the semicon industry is still flourishing in Taiwan and Malaysia? Truly, we cannot compete with China but there are other factors that we need to take advantage of. I have been in one of the subcons in Taiwan and I was impressed with the quality of controls they have. Quality must be the key to somehow get a substantial share of the market. No way we can compete with China on cost. My take is we just need to raise the "quality bar' so that China will have a hard time catching up with the prevailing quality standards.
Have faith on the Filipinos. We can do it!!!!!!
FEIT
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Kurdapyo
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| Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2025 10:35 am Post subject: |
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FEIT,
Sige, tanggalin natin ang China sa usapan ng cost. Pero sa Southeast Asia, cost pa rin ang labanan. Halimbawa, may isang big american semicon company dito sa Pilipinas na nagsara ng assy operations nila. Nilipat sa subs yung assy. Eh yung mga subs na pinaglipatan eh walang binatbat sa quality nung american company. Malayong malayo yung quality nung nawalan ng assy. So bakit nilipat? Cost pa rin talaga padre.
Kurdapyo
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Gargoyle
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| Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2025 11:38 am Post subject: |
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FEIT,
I don't want to spoil the party pero we can't expect China not to catch up with our assy/test expertise. Remember, they're a new superpower. They're no technology push-overs. They have lots and lots of PhD's. They even have a space program.
Soon they'll have more than 30 wafer fabs, which will threaten even Taiwan and Singapore. Sure they'll catch up with us. 20 years ago they don't speak much english, but now they do. So how do we compete? We need to run twice as fast just to stay in the same place. Maybe 10X as fast to be ahead.
Gargoyle
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ExPat
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| Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2025 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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My 2 cents. I think the reason why semicon co's are flourishing in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia is because of govt support. Here, wala. Mahal na ang kuryente, may peace and order problem pa. Balita ko, SEIPI and EPZA even have their own differences.
On the good side, gustong gusto ng expats dito in terms of night life. Manila is a lively city, so yan ang dapat natin ingatan. Bawal mang-holdap ng expats at turista!
ExPat
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enhinyero
Joined: 21 Jun 2026
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2025 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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expat, pano ka naging expat eh ang galing mo magtagalog? he...he... para sa kin, peace and order dapat unahin. pag kidnapping lagi nababalitaan ng tagalabas, ayaw na nyan punta rito. syempre, lipat na lang sila ibang bansa. tayo nga, gusto rin alis dito para iwas gulo eh.
enhinyero
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responsible engr
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| Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2025 3:47 pm Post subject: |
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I think the solutions that we must write here are what we can contribute by ourselves. First, we must remain calm. We can't afford to jump ship by going abroad or transferring to another industry at the same time. We must work harder and smarter. We must help each other solve problems, even if we're from different companies. I think even if we're competitors, as long as we're in the Philippines, we must help each other deliver the goods. But no sharing of proprietary info please. If we all work together, the semicon industry will still be here 5 years from now.
responsible engr
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