The semiconductor industry has had a presence in the Philippines since the 1970s, when foreign semiconductor companies Fairchild, Intel and Texas Instruments opened back-end manufacturing plants, spurring a local landscape of both domestic and foreign semiconductor assembly, testing and packaging (ATP) firms. While the electronic component manufacturing sector is the highest export sector of the Philippines, its performance has been challenged over the past decade, without sustained increase in labour productivity and expenses outstripping income for many firms. For statistical purposes, most semiconductor activities are captured under the manufacturing of electronic components. However, this category may not fully capture the activities of a nascent local industry in semiconductor design. To better understand these different stages of the semiconductor value chain, please refer to Annex A.

The following section provides an overall assessment of the Philippine semiconductor industry, focusing on downstream ATP segments where possible. The chapter’s first section will present evidence regarding the industry’s performance using macroeconomic, sectoral and firm-level data. Later sections will examine common elements of the expense structure for firms, like electricity and logistics, and specifically focus on the skills in the industry and the broader economy, the integration of the domestic ecosystem into global value chains and the state of semiconductor innovation and technology in the Philippines.

Semiconductors represent an important portion of the Philippine economy within the broader electronics sector. In December 2023, electronics exports alone accounted for 58.4% of Philippine merchandise exports (PSA, 2023[1]; 2024[2]). Of this share, approximately 70% can be directly attributed to semiconductors: in 2021, out of more than USD 42 billion in Philippine exports of electronic products, approximately USD 31 billion was due to semiconductors (PSA, 2022[3]).

The history of the electronics industry in the Philippines dates back to the 1970s, when the country began to attract foreign investments in manufacturing, particularly in semiconductor assembly and testing. By the 1970s, multinational corporations such as Intel and Texas Instruments had established operations in the Philippines, making the country one of the early hubs for electronics manufacturing in Asia. The availability of a skilled, English-speaking workforce and competitive labour costs further bolstered the industry’s growth, positioning the Philippines as a key player in the global electronics supply chain.

The Philippine semiconductor ecosystem is diverse, featuring local and international firms of varying sizes and business models. An overview of the companies active in the semiconductor ecosystem in the Philippines is presented in Table 2.1. The table highlights the ecosystem’s main strength: downstream activities (i.e. ATP), as illustrated by the presence of outsourced assembly and testing companies like Amkor Technology, Automated Technology (ATEC) Philippines, Cirtek Electronics Corporation, Fastech and Integrated Micro-Electronics (IMI) as well as ATP facilities from international integrated device manufacturers like Analog Devices, OnSemi and Texas Instruments. This segment of the value chain also accounts for the most employees.

While no semiconductor fabrication facilities (front-end manufacturing) have been set up in the Philippines to date, there is a nascent integrated circuit design industry, with domestic players like ESi Labs and Xinyx Design Consultancy and Services Inc. (hereinafter referred as Xinyx) and the presence of design centres from international firms like Analog Devices. Their planned investment in a research and development (R&D) centre located in Cavite highlights the Philippines’ growing presence in this part of the value chain.

Unlike other economies in the region, several of the key players active in the Philippine semiconductor ecosystem are domestic firms, including the aforementioned ATEC Philippines, Cirtek, ESi Labs, Fastech, IMI and Xinyx. Many key semiconductor firms highlighted in Table 2.1 are active members of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation (SEIPI) (see Chapter 3), which, together with the other leading Philippine electronics business association, the Electronics Industries Association of the Philippines (EIAPI), collaborates with the government in developing public policies for the semiconductor ecosystem.

Sectoral data help highlight the evolution of the market structure and firm dynamics and differences in performance between the electronic component manufacturing industry and the manufacturing sector in the Philippines. For statistical purposes, the sector “Manufacture of electronic components” (also shown as Sector C261) encompasses firms engaged in back-end manufacturing, including ATP, but may not fully capture the nascent Philippine semiconductor design industry.1 Semiconductors represent over 70% of electronic component exports, highlighting its sizeable role within the industry (PSA, 2024[2]). This sectoral analysis is complemented by an analysis of firm-level data in the following section.

While manufacturing electronic components, particularly semiconductors, remains a key industry for the Philippines, the sector has not experienced sustained growth over the last decade. Revenues and value added have largely plateaued and foreign investments have not increased. While exports of chips, the Philippines’ main electronics export, have increased overall, the share of global exports attributable to the Philippines in this critical area has slightly decreased.

Electronic component manufacturing, which encompasses semiconductor back-end manufacturing activities, was the largest medium and high-tech manufacturing industry by revenue in the Philippine economy in the last available period, generating over PHP 719 billion (USD 38 billion)2 (Figure 2.1) (for more information on medium and high-tech manufacturing industries – a subsector of the manufacturing sector – see Horvat and Webb (2020[4]).3 The automotive industry, a key source of demand for semiconductors, is another significant area of economic activity in the Philippine economy: the manufacture of vehicles and their parts constitute the second and third‑largest industries by revenue in the Philippines in 2021. Computer manufacturing was the fourth-largest manufacturing industry by revenue, highlighting the importance of electronics for the Philippine economy.

Over the past decade, the electronic component manufacturing industry (C261) has experienced volatile revenue performance. Between 2013 and 2014, revenues plummeted, to then recovered until the period 2018-19, which they started growing again (Figure 2.2). This contrasts with the performance of the broader manufacturing sector, which experienced steady growth from 2013 until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Similarly, volatility can be observed in value added for the electronic component manufacturing industry, with an initial decrease from 2013 to 2015 followed by a period of growth from 2015 to 2017 and later another decline. While a brief recovery occurred from 2019 to 2021, the industry’s value added has not shown consistent growth. As indicated in Figure 2.2, the number of establishments in the electronic component manufacturing industry has decreased over the 2013‑21 period, while the number of employees in the sector reached a new maximum in 2021, indicating growing consolidation in the market.

The labour productivity of the electronic component manufacturing industry shows cause for concern, with no evidence of a sustained increase over time, although the volatility of this variable, and possibly its underlying data, makes interpretation challenging (Figure 2.2). The industry experienced a downturn from 2013 to 2015, followed by growth until 2017, and later a decrease until 2020, followed by an increase in 2021. In 2021, the labour productivity of the industry trailed the performance in the broader manufacturing sector, in particular behind the most productive industries in Philippine medium and high-tech manufacturing, including motor vehicles and battery manufacturing. Nevertheless, over the period 2013-21, the electronic component manufacturing industry outperforms related electronics industries in labour productivity (Figure 2.2), like computer manufacturing (e.g. computers and laptops), consumer electronics manufacturing (e.g. televisions, headphones and video game consoles) and communication equipment manufacturing (e.g. routers, modems, telephones and antennas).

The Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) provides further insight into the above data. It is used to calculate the Value of Production Index (VaPI), Volume of Production Index (VoPI), Value of Net Sales Index (VaNSI), Volume of Net Sales Index (VoNSI) and the average capacity utilisation rate for manufacturing industries, including the electronic component manufacturing industry. While only covering a selected number of industries, this dataset allows for more granularity than the APSBI in industry (five-digit level, at least over 2012-20) and temporal (observations are monthly) terms.4 When focusing on the 2012-20 time series, the following figure (Figure 2.3) shows the value of the production and net sales indexes for the “Manufacture of semiconductor devices and other electronic components” (Sector C26120, according to the PSIC 2009), a subsector of the previously described electronic component manufacturing industry. Both indices have increased overall, with the production value being particularly notable. Both indices experienced sharp declines between the end of 2018 and spring 2020, then recovered in the last recorded months. Despite their recovery, their values remain well below the peak levels reached in 2018.

Figure 2.4 shows that the electronic component manufacturing sector (more recent MISSI data are not as granular as for the period 2012-20) experienced a downturn until early 2020, followed by a recovery until 2023, ultimately exceeding 2018 levels. In contrast, Sector C262 (“Manufacture of computers and peripheral equipment and accessories”), which had outperformed the electronic component manufacturing industry before the COVID-19 pandemic, experienced a sharper decline between late 2019 and early 2020. This industry then entered a period of stagnation, irrespective of the variable under consideration.

The PSA conducts the ASPBI every year to collect and generate information on the levels, structure, performance and trends of the country’s formal sector economic activities. However, for the years the PSA conducts the CPBI, the latter replaces ASPBI proceedings. This report examines data from 2012 to 2021: 2012 and 2018 are results from the CPBI and the rest are from the ASPBI.5

Given the focus of this report, the subsequent analyses are based on the “Manufacture of electronic components” (International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities [ISIC] Rev. 4 Division C261) industry, which includes the semiconductor industry. As noted above, over 70% of exports from this industry are semiconductor products. Results of the C261 industry are benchmarked against the wider manufacturing sector whenever relevant.6

Larger and older firms (defined as being over ten years old) are responsible for the biggest share of the total income, expenses, tangible fixed assets and employment in the electronic component manufacturing industry in the Philippines (Figures 2.5 and 2.6). In the survey, firm age is defined as the number of years the establishment has been operating in the Philippines. Given that a significant share of firms in the industry are foreign-owned (i.e. multinational enterprises), older firms’ role may be underestimated in subsequent analyses.

From 2012 to 2021, the electronic component manufacturing industry accounted for an average total income of PHP 583.2 billion, accounting for 11.5% of the wider manufacturing sector. Large firms alone generated 98.6% of the income in the industry, substantially higher than the 72.3% in manufacturing (Figure 2.5). This difference highlights that large firms are more likely to play a prevailing role in the Philippine semiconductor industry than in the manufacturing sector.

Large firms in the industry earn more, spend more and invest more in tangible fixed assets. They accounted for more than 98% of the average total expenses and average total tangible fixed assets in the electronic component manufacturing industry from 2012 to 2021. In comparison, large firms represent over 70% of total income, total expense, and total tangible fixed assets in the broader Philippine manufacturing sector (Figure 2.5). Older firms (more than ten years of age) account for more than 80% of total income, total expense and total tangible fixed assets for both the electronic component manufacturing industry and the broader manufacturing sector (Figure 2.6).

Employment is heavily concentrated among large firms in the electronic component manufacturing industry. Larger companies employ approximately 147 400 workers (as compared to 772 845 workers in the manufacturing sector as a whole), which represent 97.1% of total employment in the industry (62.5% in the manufacturing sector). Smaller firms in the industry play a trivial role in employing workers. In comparison, almost a quarter of workers are employed in small firms in the broader Philippine manufacturing sector.

Similarly, older firms employ more workers than younger companies. In the electronic component manufacturing industry, old firms employ 131 922 workers (as compared to 928 221 workers in the manufacturing sector), which represents 88.0% of total employment in the industry (75.6% in manufacturing sector). Younger firms contribute less to total employment, with their relevance being even less pronounced for the electronic component manufacturing industry.

From 2012 to 2021, the Philippine electronic component manufacturing industry displayed lacklustre performance. Figure 2.8 shows that large firms, the size class that mainly drives the overall industry performance, were not able to achieve any positive growth in income throughout the period, using 2012 as the baseline year. Nevertheless, following a drop from 2012 to 2014, income started picking up gradually. Meanwhile, expenses grew by 26.5% in 2021 with respect to 2012.

In contrast, large firms from the wider manufacturing sector have been on a general upward projection since 2012. Growth slowed in 2020 to 6.4%, most likely due to the COVID-19 crisis, but the value quickly bounced back to 24.5% in 2021 (Figure 2.8). However, expenses grew faster than income: in 2021, total expenses increased by 33.2% relative to 2012. Hence, the overall profitability performance of manufacturing did not experience a favourable evolution over this period.

Among the four size classes within the semiconductor industry, only small firms grew from 2012 to 2021. However, it is important to note that they only constitute approximately 0.6% of total income in the electronic component manufacturing industry. While this increasing trend (see small firms in Figure 2.8) may suggest growth potential within this size class, it is insufficient to affect the overall industry’s growth. On the contrary, large firms, which constitute most of the income generated in the electronic component manufacturing industry, experienced a decline in income during the period 2012-14, resulting in a downturn in products (Figure 2.9). Since 2014, they have experienced both increasing revenues and expenses, which combined caused profits to stagnate overall in the period 2014-21, while large firms in the wider manufacturing sector have experienced an upward trend in profits.

When categorised by age, indicator growth trends hint at potential for further improvement in the electronic component manufacturing industry, where expenses grew faster than income for old firms (Figure 2.10) and expenses have grown much faster. In 2021 alone, for example, total expenses for these firms increased by 45.2%, which may reflect the supply chain disruptions affecting inputs to this industry during this period.

On the contrary, the manufacturing sector saw a steady income increase and a manageable expense rise. In 2021, old manufacturing firms increased total income and total expense by 36.2% and 40.0%, respectively (Figure 2.10). The struggles of older firms within the electronic component manufacturing industry are emphasised in Figure 2.11, which highlights the steep growth of expenses compared to the broader manufacturing sector.

Apart from the nontrivial role of large firms in the electronics manufacturing industry, there seems to be an even more restricted set of few firms “at the top” of the distribution that shape the overall industry performance in the Philippines. This is true for the electronic component manufacturing industry and even more so for manufacturing.

Figure 2.12 shows that the average income and expenses for firms in the electronic component manufacturing industry are higher than firms at the 75^th percentile but lower than those at the 90^th percentile. This suggests that a small percentage of firms are significantly raising the average values of the entire sample. This trend is even more pronounced in the manufacturing sector, where the average income and expenses exceed those of firms at the 90^th percentile by a greater extent. The predominant role played by a relatively small set of larger, older firms is crucial to keep in mind when looking at the following graphs.

Profitability in the electronic component manufacturing industry is likewise driven by firms at the upper tail of the distribution (Figure 2.12). Consequently, it is vital to understand firms’ cost structure to ensure that the expenses are sustainable. Subsequent sections provide further analysis on some of these cost drivers.

Since the 1970s, foreign direct investment (FDI) has been crucial in developing the Philippine semiconductor ecosystem. Today, foreign semiconductor companies continue to play an important role in the Philippines by establishing new operations in the country (plants, regional headquarters, research centres, etc.) and acquiring local companies. This sub-section uses insights from the ASPBI and CPBI, as well as the database fDi Markets to broadly characterise foreign investments in the Philippine semiconductor ecosystem.

The contributions of foreign investors to firms in the electronic component industry in the Philippines have been growing in recent years, according to the ASPBI and CPBI. While respondents in the manufacturing sector reported a marginal uptick (from 10.2% in 2012 to 13.1% in 2021) in the average foreign capital participation, establishments in the semiconductor industry experienced a more sizeable growth (from 52.5% in 2012 to 68.5% in 2021) (Figure 2.13). Consequently, foreign investors have a significantly larger stake in the electronic component manufacturing industry in the Philippines relative to the manufacturing sector.

Moreover, a firm’s size is positively correlated with foreign contribution, where larger firms have higher foreign capital participation than their smaller counterparts. The positive relationship holds for both the manufacturing sector and the semiconductor industry but is more prevalent for the latter. Based on ASPBI’s respondents, only one-fifth of capital contribution in the semiconductor industry comes from foreign investors for micro firms (0 to 9 employees) and the value increases to almost half for small and medium firms (10 to 99 and 100 to 199 employees, respectively). In comparison, foreign investors own almost 70% of the total capital of large firms in the semiconductor industry (Figure 2.14). The structure of foreign capital participation does not significantly change across age groups, remaining close to 70% for establishments in the semiconductor industry and 10% for those in the manufacturing sector.

According to the fDi Markets database, international firms invested over USD 5.5 billion in the Philippine semiconductor ecosystem through 24 investments between 2003 and 2023. Figure 2.15 highlights that investments in the Philippine ecosystem stem largely from 3 economies: the United States (over USD 2.5 billion), Korea (over USD 1.4 billion) and Japan (over USD 1 billion). Jointly considered, these investments are primarily due to three companies: Texas Instruments (United States), Samsung (Korea) and Murata Manufacturing (Japan). Texas Instruments, in particular, emerges as a key investor, accounting for 3 of the 24 transactions and almost a quarter of total greenfield investment in the Philippine semiconductor industry for 2003-23. However, most FDI in the Philippines goes to industries other than semiconductors. Just 4% of invested capital flows to the semiconductor industry (Figure 2.16), suggesting unrealised potential.7

“Manufacturing” activities in the Philippines attracted the most FDI (Figure 2.17), followed by “Research and development”. Similarly, foreign investments in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam – Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries comparable in size and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita – largely target manufacturing.

Figure 2.18 portrays the trend of capital invested and jobs created through FDI. The largest investments occurred early in the sample period, confirming the importance of older firms in the Philippine electronic component manufacturing industry. Between 2004 and 2007, United States (US) companies invested nearly USD 2 billion and, in 2008, Korean companies invested USD 1 billion. Japanese investments were more dispersed in 2009, 2011 and 2018. The notable spike in 2007‑08 is due to significant investments: Texas Instruments invested USD 1 billion in the Philippine semiconductor industry in 2007 and Samsung invested the same amount in 2008. Another spike occurred in 2023, driven mainly by Singaporean and US companies.

Almost two-thirds of FDI in the Philippine semiconductor industry is directed to just two regions in the Philippines: Calabarzon and Central Luzon (Figure 2.19). Calabarzon, for instance, has been the recipient of two considerable investments made by Murata Manufacturing and one by Analog Devices, among others.

The geographical distribution of semiconductor companies in the Philippines is linked to the presence of special economic zones which, over the 2007-19 period, have accounted for the majority of Philippine exports (67% on average) (PEZA, 2021[5]). Most of the semiconductor firms introduced in Table 2.1 are based in special economic zones in three provinces (Batangas, Cavite and Laguna) in the Calabarzon region, generating the highest volumes of direct employment and exports (Figure 2.20). Semiconductors and electronics companies have been responsible for more than a third (35%) of investment in the 415 special economic zones present in the Philippines in the period 1995-2020 (PEZA, 2021[5]).

International firms can also invest in a domestic industry by acquiring or merging with local firms. However, there has been very little merger and acquisition activity in the Philippine electronic component manufacturing industry (of which the semiconductor industry is a subset): just 22 deals, initiated by non‑Philippine companies and targeting electronics firms, took place in 1998‑2022, representing just 0.47% of the foreign-led merger and acquisition market in the Philippines.

The industry that is most represented among acquirers is other manufacturers of electronic components, although financial intermediaries led the most valuable deals. These deals were concluded by 19 different companies, originating from 13 economies: 4 from Japan, 3 from Chinese Taipei and 2 from Singapore. On average, acquired firms had larger revenues than other firms in the electronics industry in the Philippines (Figure 2.21).

Inter-Country Input-Output (ICIO) data identify intermediate inputs and final demand flows by industry and country and provide a complete picture of the value added at each stage of production and distribution provided by an economy to a given product. Figure 2.22 portrays the value added by the Philippines to the semiconductor industry in comparison to other economies in the region. In this respect, the Philippines performs well, ranking behind the leaders in the group (Malaysia and Thailand) but better than Indonesia and Viet Nam. However, the Philippines has a larger share of overall value added generated by the semiconductor industry than Thailand, while Malaysia retains an even clearer advantage over the other benchmark countries (Panel B, Figure 2.22).

ICIO data also enable further analysis of the flows of intermediate inputs and how they affect – or are affected by – the Philippine semiconductor industry. Reflecting the complexity of global semiconductor value chains, where intermediate products can cross borders hundreds of times during the production process, Philippine semiconductors are both a key input for and rely on intermediate inputs from the semiconductor industries in the People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”). In addition, in 2018, the Chinese computer sector used significant inputs from the Philippine semiconductor industry and the Philippine semiconductor industry relied to a large extent on Korean semiconductors. In 2018, the Philippine semiconductor industry also relied on domestic intermediate inputs from the “Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles”, “Chemical and chemical products” and “Basic metals” industries. More analysis of dependencies using trade data is provided in the section on integration in semiconductor global value chains.

The analysis in the section above highlights the importance of the expense structure for the performance of the Philippine electronic component manufacturing ecosystem. Stakeholders mention two areas in particular, electricity and logistics, where costs in the Philippines exceed those in the region. This section examines these two areas.

Stakeholders have highlighted the high cost of electricity as detrimental to the Philippine semiconductor industry’s attractiveness for investment. A recent World Bank survey of Philippine enterprises (World Bank, 2024[6]) found that over 22% of surveyed firms cite electricity as a major or severe business constraint compared with 8% on average for firms in the East Asia and Pacific region. In the Philippines, electricity was cited as the most important constraint on business, more often than informality, access to finance or transportation (World Bank, 2024[6]). Some sources indicate that the provision of electricity is costlier in the Philippines compared to other Southeast Asian countries, where one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity in the Philippines can cost approximately double that in Viet Nam (Global Petrol Prices, 2024[7]). This is likely a consequential difference, as stakeholders emphasise the importance of electricity cost for their investment choices. Figure 2.23 suggests that prices tend to change considerably in different regions of the country, with the ones where most semiconductor activities are concentrated (Calabarzon and Central Luzon) being among those with the lowest prices.

Apart from the cost of energy, the proportion of electricity provided by renewable resources constitutes a crucial issue that stakeholders emphasise to reach their sustainability goals. Currently, the Philippines relies more on renewable resources (close to 17% of its total energy supply) than comparable countries, ahead of Indonesia and Viet Nam (Figure 2.24). Most of this is attributable to wind and solar power, with hydroelectric power playing a comparatively less important role. The Philippine Energy Plan 2023-2050 provides further information and guidelines on how the government aims to reach its goals in terms of renewable energy capacity by 2030 (35%), 2040 (50%) and 2050 (more than 50%).

Logistics is a second area of improvement mentioned by stakeholders when discussing the attractiveness of investment in the Philippine semiconductor industry. When considering the country size, the Philippines has the least widespread road network within the benchmark sample (Figure 2.25). For example, in terms of kilometres of paved road per square kilometre, the Philippine road network is approximately one-eighth the size of the Vietnamese network. This may be due to the country’s archipelagic nature.

The state of a road network is also critical for its effectiveness. In the context of semiconductors, machinery needed for the assembly, testing and packaging (ATP) of semiconductor is typically transported by road. Stakeholders noted that this equipment, used for high-precision tasks, requires roads in good condition to avoid losing calibration during transport. From this point of view, Figure 2.26 suggests that the Philippines has room for improvement, as the country lags behind other benchmark countries (aside from Viet Nam) in terms of road quality, with Malaysia achieving the best performance.

Stakeholders’ consultations also emphasised the importance of another critical infrastructure for the shipment of semiconductors (due to their high value and low weight): air transportation. Figure 2.27 delineates a picture similar to the one presented in the previous paragraph, suggesting that the Philippines has room for improvement.

The analysis in the section on market structure highlights the role of human capital in the performance of the Philippine semiconductor ecosystem. This section more closely examines the vacancies and training in the Philippine electronic component manufacturing industry, followed by an analysis of the demand and supply of skills, which is complementary to the subsequent analysis in Chapter 3.

The PSA conducts the bi-annual Integrated Survey on Labor and Employment (ISLE) to examine different aspects of employment and establishment practices.8 The survey provides an extensive overview of the demand and supply of skills in the Philippines by collecting data on occupational shortages and surpluses, as well as job-related training of workers. In this report, analyses are drawn from the survey results of ISLE 2019/20.9

Given the data limitation, the subsequent analyses will be based on the “Manufacturing of computer, electronic and optical products” (ISIC Rev.4 Division C26) industry.10 Results of the semiconductor-related industry (i.e. C26) will be benchmarked against the manufacturing sector whenever relevant.

In 2019-20, the manufacturing sector and the semiconductor-related industry generally had a similar distribution of job vacancy positions (Figure 2.28). Among the responses, more than half of available managerial positions were at the senior level, while vacant jobs for professionals, technical and associate professionals as well as plant and machine operators and assemblers were mostly entry-level or junior. Employers mostly sought entry-level workers for plant and machine operator and assembler positions, where the openings were relatively easy to fill.

Vacancies requiring higher skill levels were relatively harder to fill for manufacturing and semiconductor industries (Figure 2.29). Consequently, most respondents indicated that managers and professionals were difficult to recruit. In fact, 92.3% of managerial positions in the semiconductor-related industry were hard to fill due to no/few applicants and, if there were any, they lacked either skills or experience (Figure 2.30). Filipino stakeholders have also observed that experienced, skilled employees face high turnover due to better opportunities with, for instance, other domestic companies or international options.

This is coherent with a more general observation: lack of experience is a more prevalent reason for hard-to-fill vacancies for managers and professionals in the Philippine electronic component manufacturing industry than the manufacturing sector as a whole. Some Philippine employers note that employees leave after a few years (i.e. two to three years) of working in the semiconductor industry, whether due to poaching or seeking more competitive offers.

Finally, recurring factors, such as a lack of applicants and necessary skills, explain why establishments struggle to recruit for hard-to-fill vacancies across various occupation classifications (Figure 2.30). As presented in Figure 2.29, low-skilled vacancies (i.e. plant and machine positions, in this case) are comparatively easy to fill. However, where such vacancies cannot be filled in the electronic component manufacturing industry, this is typically due to a lack of applicants, possibly indicating that demand for these skills continues to outstrip supply.

Figure 2.31 shows that a higher percentage of establishments in the semiconductor-related industry provided job-related training relative to firms in the broader manufacturing sector. This might be due to the abovementioned difficulties in finding skilled applicants within the semiconductor industry, especially for technical and associated professions. For the semiconductor-related industry, 67.3% of the responding establishments (out of 113) provided job-related training to their employees. Meanwhile, for the manufacturing sector, 54.7% of the 1 383 establishments that responded provided job-related training to their employees.

In 2019, 10.6% of the workers who received job-related training in the manufacturing sector (90 644 of 856 203) were employed in the electronic component manufacturing industry. Establishments in the semiconductor-related industries prioritised training rank-and-file workers relative to supervisors or managers, a notably different pattern from the rest of manufacturing (Figure 2.32). Almost 70% of employees trained in the semiconductor-related industry are rank-and-file workers compared to only 21.3% in the rest of the manufacturing sector. This figure highlights the mismatch in the skills required by the electronic component manufacturing industry and those already available in the labour force. This aligns with stakeholders’ views: employers in semiconductor-related industries consistently train their junior staff to ensure they attain the specialised skills and technical expertise required in the highly complex semiconductor industry.

The semiconductor industry in the Philippines hires a variety of different occupations, roles and skill profiles. Consultation with employers indicates the important role of academic institutions in providing the required technical foundations, especially for engineering tasks that require complex skills (e.g. integrated circuit design). Employers note the role of vocational courses in equipping workers with relevant technical skills for less specialised tasks. More specific and technical skills, often related to manufacturing processes (such as moulding, dicing, wave soldering and swaging), complement more socio-emotional and functional skills like communications and management. Box 2.2 highlights the diversity of skills mentioned in job vacancies for the downstream semiconductor industry relative to other manufacturing industries in selected countries.

Industry stakeholders also emphasise the different skill sets engineers are required to have compared to technicians and operators. With respect to the former, industry stakeholders noted that most hiring companies seek engineers graduating from specialised university degree programmes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, especially as the complexity of engineering tasks increases as firms upgrade their operations to more complex parts of the value chain. Having a specialised background (e.g. in microelectronics) can considerably reduce the time dedicated to on-the-job training, with noticeable benefits for companies that otherwise may need up to two years of training for newly hired employees to reach complete autonomy.

Academic requirements are less stringent for technicians and operators, with courses lasting weeks or months often sufficient to train for most tasks. In this respect, vocational training is crucial. Once minimum requirements are met (which tend to vary from one company to another and between different occupations), employers are mostly open to providing further training to their workers to develop their skills but also to facilitate talent retention.

Efforts made in developing the talent required for semiconductor production can benefit from overlaps and spillovers with other industries that require a similar mix of skills. Figure 2.35 shows the sectors more closely aligned with the semiconductor industry based on the skills mentioned in their online job postings. In light of this similarity, these sectors may represent important pools for employers aiming to expand their workforce in a phase where talent for semiconductors is in high demand. Establishing collaborations across sectors to develop a more versatile workforce may be equally beneficial for both employers and employees.

Manufacturing motor vehicle parts is by far the closest sector to semiconductors in terms of skills required by employers. This sector produces vital components for automotive assembly, requiring precision engineering and adherence to stringent safety regulations, similar to the semiconductor industry. Other sectors share similarities with semiconductors: the manufacture of beverages and of pharmaceutical and medicine require clean room manufacturing (McKinsey, 2024[12]), ingredient sourcing, production processes, packaging and cutting-edge R&D. In addition, medical equipment and supplies manufacturing, as well as the navigational, measuring and electromedical manufacturing sectors require proficiency in software, precision machinery and electronics assembly.

Consistent with Figure 2.35, human capital from the motor vehicle and computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing – which already represent important industries for the Philippines – appears best suited for reallocation to the semiconductor industry.

While technical skills are paramount in the semiconductor field, they must be complemented with appropriate socio-emotional and functional skills. However, the latter, such as the ability to effectively communicate, manage, lead and work in teams, solve complex problems, think critically and adapt, are transferrable and highly demanded in other industries.

The results of the ISLE highlight that, in the case of the Philippines, four general skills stand out in semiconductor-related industries, irrespective of the specific occupation: effective communication, flexibility, adaptability and problem solving. Other skills, such as organisational skills, management skills and critical thinking, despite their importance, figured less prominently in the results of the survey. This underscores the homogeneity in the demand for socio-emotional and functional skills when working in an establishment beyond technical skills.

Three interrelated labour market issues impact the semiconductor ecosystem in the Philippines. First, employers highlight a lack of engineers as a bottleneck to the semiconductor industry’s growth. Stakeholders identified a range of possible causes for this shortage, including a possible lack of early exposure to STEM, inadequately targeted education and a shortage of STEM educators to teach interested students. The lack of qualified teachers is a recurring issue, especially for more advanced courses and degree programmes.

Second, because some semiconductor occupations are technically complex and highly specialised, skills mismatch can be a concern. Some key stakeholders have recognised underemployment as a bigger problem than unemployment in the Philippines. In fact, the latest figures recorded underemployment at 12.3% and unemployment at 4.3% (PSA, 2024[13]).11 To mitigate this challenge, employers provide training and invest in their engineers and technicians so they can productively contribute to their respective fields. For instance, companies noted that an average of 2-3 years of training after hiring is needed until engineers can productively integrate into the firm’s activities. However, this comes at the cost of increasing the likelihood that employees will be sought after by both domestic and international employers.

This leads to a “brain drain” phenomenon (Box 2.3), the third main bottleneck experienced by the Philippine semiconductor ecosystem regarding the labour market. In fact, stakeholders have noted that the highly mobile Philippine workforce is likely to leave its employers after having developed valuable specialised skills, attracted by international employers paying more competitive wages.

The following paragraphs are dedicated to quantifying and providing evidence explaining why the persistent cycle of limited supply and reduced demand for skilled workers continues in the Philippines. Numerous factors define whether a country has the right set of skills for semiconductors. Education plays a vital role in preparing future employees for some of the most critical positions within this industry.

The percentage of GDP allocated to education is a useful metric to gauge the availability of the resources needed to develop human capital capable of producing semiconductors, especially when comparing the Philippines to the usual set of benchmark countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam.12 In this respect, Figure 2.36 highlights the increasing share of Philippine GDP allocated to education, contrasting with the trend in the selected benchmark countries, where the allocation has decreased over the last decade. Compared with this set of countries, the Philippines is performing well in terms of GDP expenditure on education, having recently (2022) overtaken Malaysia to become the biggest spender (in percentage terms).

Technical aptitude is particularly relevant to engineering profiles required for the semiconductor industry. One measure of this aptitude includes results from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tests 15-year-old students across countries on a set of selected topics. In the crucial subjects of mathematics and science, the Philippines appears to be lagging behind comparable economies in both subjects, with Viet Nam being the best performer in both areas. Unlike other economies, where there has been a general decline in performance in both science and mathematics over the last two periods, the results have remained constant for the Philippines since their inclusion in PISA in 2018 (Figure 2.37).

While secondary education is an important foundation, industry stakeholders highlight the importance of tertiary education in preparing future engineering and STEM-related students. Commission on Higher Education (CHED) data identified electronic, electrical, chemical and mechanical engineering as the most popular semiconducting engineering disciplines. Among regions in the Philippines, the National Capital Region did not only have the greatest number of institutions offering related engineering programmes but also had the greatest number of students. In fact, 22.6% of enrolees and 15.6% of the schools that offer engineering disciplines related to semiconductors are in the National Capital Region (Figure 2.38). This is followed by the Calabarzon region, where numerous semiconductor-related companies are located (see also Table 2.1).

An approximate evaluation of the Philippines universities’ performance is offered by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking of countries’ university education, based on the QS score of the three best universities within each country. While this metric is far from providing a comprehensive view of Philippine universities, it suggests that the Philippines could improve compared to the usual set of benchmark countries: Figure 2.39 highlights how universities in Malaysia, and to a lesser extent Indonesia and Thailand, are performing considerably better.

However, the QS World University Rankings covers a very limited set of universities, which may not encompass those providing the most relevant skills needed for semiconductors. Data provided by the Research Organization Registry (ROR) can be employed to assess this more carefully and in a more nuanced way. More specifically, ROR data show that 126 of 213 Philippine universities, or 59% of the sample, have curricula relevant to the field of semiconductors, typically electrical or electronic engineering. Among these most relevant universities, the University of the Philippines Diliman and Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology have well-known programmes and expertise in microelectronics, while others, like Ateneo de Manila University, Batangas State University, Caraga State University, FAITH Colleges, the Technological University of the Philippines – Manila, the University of San Carlos, the University of Santo Tomas and the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines participate in key programmes like the Center for Integrated Circuit and Device Research and also produce graduates in semiconductor-related fields. These universities tend to be particularly clustered in the National Capital Region but some are outside Metropolitan Manila, including on the islands of Cebu and Mindanao.

The Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT) consortium consists of eight technical universities in the Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University, Central Luzon State University, De La Salle University, Mapúa University, Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology, the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, UP Los Baños and University of San Carlos. These universities offer master’s and doctoral degrees in various engineering fields. Figure 2.40 shows an increase in the numbers of qualifiers and graduates for master’s and PhD programmes in these universities until 2018, followed by a fall until 2023. Industry stakeholders anecdotally confirmed this development and noted skills shortages persist in engineering fields. Apart from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, speculative explanations raised by industrial stakeholders include a more general lack of awareness and other more lucrative career paths for STEM-inclined students, including software development.

The Philippines exported almost USD 38 billion worth of chips in 2021 (Figure 2.43). These products are typically processors and controllers, and other types of electronic integrated circuits (excluding processors, controllers, memories and amplifiers). Coherently with the predominant role played by ATP manufacturers in the market structure described in Table 2.1, exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, foundry inputs and raw materials from the Philippines are marginal and, in the case of inputs and raw materials, have been decreasing since 2013.13

A country has a revealed comparative advantage (RCA) in a given product when the ratio of its exports of that product to total exports of all products exceeds the same ratio for the world as a whole. Figure 2.44 highlights that the Philippines still has a significant RCA in chips, although this advantage has fallen between 2012 and 2021. Considering the evidence shown in the previous paragraphs, namely increasing production and sales rates in the Philippines, the decreasing RCA potentially points to the emergence of other competitive countries in the field of semiconductors or to a decreasing focus on semiconductors within the Philippines.14 The Philippines’ share of global exports of finished semiconductor products has decreased from 3.47% in 2018 to 2.82% in 2021 (Figure 2.45). It nevertheless remains the ninth-largest exporter of chips over this period.

Figure 2.46 also highlights that the Philippines’ exports of chips are highly concentrated, with 3 economies (China, Hong Kong [China] and Singapore) accounting for approximately 64% of the Philippines’ exports of chips in 2018 and 63% in 2021. When focusing on imports (Figure 2.47), one noticeable shift in the lead exporter to the Philippines occurred from 2018 to 2021, with Korea declining from 31% to 23%, while China, Chinese Taipei and Japan gained importance. Economies like the United States have retained their considerable shares.

Examining bilateral trade dependencies can also help understand the strength and depth of economic ties between economies and where potential bottlenecks could occur. In general, the semiconductor industry is characterised by several dependencies and “bottlenecks”, as some products that are vital for the entire semiconductor value chain are produced by a very limited number of countries (Kleinhans and Baisakova, 2020[18]).

Nevertheless, dependencies might still exist for specific products and resources. In the following analysis, the Philippines is considered to be dependent on another economy for a particular semiconductor-related product if a high share of imports for a given semiconductor-related product originates from a given economy and limited diversification options exist (meaning that the Philippines imports that product from relatively few other economies). Additionally, the value of the imported goods must be non-negligible and the ratio of imports to exports must be considerable.

Figure 2.48 highlights the number of Philippine bilateral trade dependencies for semiconductor-related products (see Annex B for the full list of identified products) from 2012 to 2021. China and Japan stand out as two countries on which the Philippines is increasingly reliant: in the most recent period (2019-21), the Philippines is dependent on China and Japan for ten products, more than on all other countries combined. On the contrary, Korea used to be an economy on which the Philippines was highly dependent but, in recent periods, this has been less so. This decreased dependency on Korea echoes the decreased imports from the country highlighted in Figure 2.47.

The Philippines has been consistently (in all three periods) dependent on China in terms of imports of argon, a raw material relevant to semiconductor production. In the last two periods, the Philippines has also been dependent on China for “Sheets and plates of polarizing material/sheets of semiconductor” and “Photographic plates and film in the flat, sensitised, unexposed, with any side > 255 mm”. The Philippines seeks to reduce external dependencies and diversify its value chain, especially by implementing a localisation policy to favour import substitution (see also Chapter 3).

Moreover, the computer, electronic and optical products industry (i.e. C26) shows higher backward linkages than the broader manufacturing sector (Figure 2.49). Almost 40% of gross exports come from foreign value‑added in the computer, electronic and optical products industry, compared to 31.4% in manufacturing. The increasing share over time reflects that the industry has become more dependent on foreign inputs to meet foreign demands, potentially affecting the cost structure for the firms operating in this industry.

This section aims to highlight the current state of the innovation landscape in the Philippine semiconductor ecosystem. It does so by examining both inputs to innovation, such as R&D expenditure, and outputs, focusing in particular on patenting activities.

As an activity defined by the pursuit of new knowledge, R&D expenditures are an often-used input measure of innovation readiness. Figure 2.50 shows that the Philippines spends just 0.3% of GDP on R&D. It also shows that Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam are outspending the Philippines regarding R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP. This difference appears to relate to business R&D expenditures. More specifically, Thailand is considerably outspending the Philippines in this area (0.8% of Thailand’s GDP vs. 0.1% for the Philippines), with only Indonesia having a weaker performance than the Philippines.

Patents protect technological inventions. Patent statistics provide insightful information on the general state of the art in the concerned technology area and can help to identify the maturity of certain technologies or identify technological trends (EPO, n.d.[23]; WIPO, 2023[24]). While patent data may not paint the entire picture of the innovative nature of an industry in a certain country, they are often used as a proxy for measuring innovation. In evaluating technological progress, this information may be complemented with other indicators ranging from, but not limited to, number of innovative startups and adoption of digital technologies.

Among selected ASEAN countries, Malaysian entities file for patents the most. Figure 2.51 exhibits that under IP5 families15, the Philippines recorded around one-fifth of the patent applications filed in Malaysia from 2011 to 2020. The gap is wider for patent applications filed under the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT), where the Philippines has only one-tenth of Malaysia’s applications.

Focusing on semiconductors, over the past four decades, semiconductor patents (see Annex C for how semiconductor patents are defined) have been steadily increasing worldwide, both in absolute numbers and as a share of all patents, gaining traction in the early 2000s (Figure 2.52). In 2020, approximately 5% of PCT applications were related to semiconductors and more than 10% to IP5 patent families (Figure 2.53). As semiconductors increase in computing power and end-market applications grow, semiconductor-related patents are expected to further increase.

More patents are filed in the Philippines for semiconductor-related patents than in any other benchmark country, except Malaysia, which is the clear frontrunner among the five Southeast Asian countries under consideration. Looking at patents filed under IP5 families, the Philippines has increased its patenting output in the semiconductor industry, from 22.82 patent applications from 2001 to 2010 to 42.84 from 2011 to 2020 (Figure 2.54). Other countries, particularly Indonesia and Viet Nam, have not been applying for patents under the IP5 families from 2011 to 2020. Meanwhile, the Philippines has filed fewer applications under the PCT in the more recent period (i.e. 2011-20).

The Philippines appears to have innovated more in the semiconductor industry than in other industries. A quarter of the IP5 patents filed in the Philippines in the period 2011-20 are innovations related to semiconductors, which is significantly higher than Malaysia’s 11.4% and Thailand’s 1.4% (Figure 2.55), while Indonesia and Viet Nam have not applied for any semiconductor-related patents in 2011‑20. However, the absolute number of total patents remains very low, implying that these numbers should be cautiously interpreted.

Similarly, the computation of revealed technology advantage (RTA)16 is heavily influenced by the shares of semiconductor patents to total patents and, given the low numbers of patents in many of the benchmark countries, must be interpreted with great care. Based on available information, Figure 2.56 shows that the Philippines has a technological advantage in the semiconductor industry, reflected by an RTA value above 1. This implies that the Philippines exhibits relative specialisation in this technology compared to its neighbouring countries.

There are many possible explanations for the low share of business expenditure in R&D and the small number of patent applications made in the Philippines for semiconductor technologies. In general terms, the value of patents as a measure of innovativeness has long been questioned (Acs and Audretsch, 1989[27]) as their quality is heterogenous (Squiccarini, Dernis and Criscuolo, 2013[28]) and there are many alternative approaches (like trade secrets or copyrights) available to firms that wish to protect the returns of their innovative activities (Hall et al., 2014[29]). In the specific Philippine context, the prevalence of firms in the ATP segment, which is less R&D-intensive than earlier stages of the value chain (Varas et al., 2021[30]), may play an important role. In addition, multinational enterprises active in the country (see Table 2.1) may prefer locating their R&D and, therefore their inventors, outside the Philippines, potentially where their headquarters are located (Karkinsky and Riedel, 2012[31]; Gaessler, Hall and Harhoff, 2021[32]).

When digging deeper into the production of the companies included in Table 2.1, Philippine semiconductor firms do not focus on the most advanced packaging technologies available. For example, there is no evidence of either 2.5-D or 3-D chip packaging being produced in the Philippines.

However, a forthcoming investment from Analog Devices in a centre of excellence will focus on 300 mm wafers (PCO, 2023[33]), the current frontier as well as the new standard in terms of wafer size (CRS, 2023[34]). This may herald the adoption of more advanced semiconductor technologies in the Philippines. Public initiatives like ADMATEL – which counts most of the companies included in Table 2.1 among its clients – have helped to reinforce and upgrade the failure analysis and materials testing facilities of the Philippine semiconductor industry and help to ensure a high technological standard (see Chapter 3).

Technology plays a crucial role in the semiconductor industry. While the Philippines may underspend in R&D relative to its neighbouring countries and has not yet experienced a considerable amount of patent filings, indicators such as the share of patents devoted to semiconductors over total applications, the country’s RTA in semiconductors, its active investments and the local uptake of existing technologies suggest that the Philippines is open to advancing its semiconductor industry.

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