Semiconductor exports could reach up to $54B this year — SEIPI

By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Senior Reporter

PHILIPPINE EXPORTS of semiconductor and electronic products could reach a new high of $54 billion this year amid surging demand for tech components needed to support artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and data centers, an industry group said.

“Initially, we were conservative at 5%, but looking at the performance of the other industries, we upped it to 10% for 2026. So, that would be around $53 billion to $54 billion,” Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI) President Danilo C. Lachica told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Friday.

The 10% forecast is higher than SEIPI’s initial 5% growth forecast for semiconductor and electronics exports this year.

“For 2025, we did not expect exports to hit 16%, so we only projected flat growth [for this year] because of the geopolitical wars and supply-chain (disruption), but what happened is [export growth] was driven by AI,” Mr. Lachica said.

Electronics exports rose by 16.11% to $49.64 billion in 2025 from $42.75 billion in 2024, according to SEIPI data.

Mr. Lachica noted that while the Philippines does not produce AI chips, it specializes in support equipment to power AI engines and data centers.

“Since AI and data centers are still gonna grow, and then there’s automotive electronics, so we’re projecting 10% growth in exports,” Mr. Lachica said.

He noted that Hong Kong remains the top destination for Philippine-made electronics and semiconductor exports, followed by the United States and China.

On the other hand, China remained the top source for electronics imports, driven mainly by silicon wafers.

“We have to strengthen our localization initiatives,” Mr. Lachica said.

The Philippines’ share in the global semiconductor market is about 5% as of 2025, he noted.

SEIPI is also looking to increase the country’s share in the electronics manufacturing services market, the sector which specializes in the complete assembly of consumer electronic devices like mobile phones.

“It’s a very big trillion-dollar market, but our share is only 1% for now,” Mr. Lachica said.

The group is also hoping to resubmit to the Department of Science and Technology its proposal to establish a lab-scale wafer fabrication facility by 2027.

“It will be the proof-of-concept to show the world that we can [specialize] in wafer fab,” he said, noting that semiconductor companies still identify the Philippines as a hub for back-end semiconductor manufacturing.

“We’re good in assembly, test and packaging, and we’re starting to grow the IC (integrated circuit) design industry, but without the wafer fab, we’re not realizing the full potential to complete the semiconductor supply chain,” Mr. Lachica said.

On the possibility of building a wafer fab facility inside the Philippines’ AI-native hub in New Clark City, Tarlac under the Pax Silica initiative, Mr. Lachica said this might not be possible at the moment.

“I would love to have a wafer fab in Pax Silica, but we’re not ready for that. You can’t convince like a TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.) or a TI (Texas Instruments, Inc.) to build a wafer fab in the Philippines if we don’t have the track record,” he said.

Department of Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the upcoming AI-native hub in New Clark City, Tarlac under the Pax Silica initiative would help increase the value of the country’s electronics and semiconductor exports.

“If you look at our semiconductors and electronics, they are somewhat left behind because of the new technologies,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a briefing last week.

“So, with this Pax Silica, if we succeed in attracting these kinds of industries, it is going to be a game changer for that sector to become more robust,” Mr. Balisacan said.

Electronic products remained the Philippines’ top export in first half of 2026, rising by 20.7% to $26.1 billion from $21.62 billion last year, according to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data.

Semiconductor exports, which accounted for the bulk of electronic products, also climbed by 21.7% to $19.5 billion in the six-month period from $16.02 billion a year ago, PSA data showed.