Taiwan ranks No. 4 in IT output

Taiwan ranked No. 4 in the world in IT hardware manufacturing last year, the head of the Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 北市電腦公會) said yesterday.

Frank Huang (黃崇仁), head of the association, also debunked the myth that when combined, the IT manufacturing of China and Taiwan together beat out Japan.

During a speech at a conference on cross-strait trade yesterday, Huang, who also heads Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), said Taiwan ranks fourth behind the US, Japan and China.

Taiwan leads the world in the production of notebook computers and LCD monitors, with a 58 percent and 54.4 percent share, respectively, of the two markets during the first quarter of this year.

During the same period, the nation also built 24.8 percent of the world's personal computers and 90 percent of its motherboards, the circuit boards inside a PC that hold and connect all the chips, wires and drives.

Although Taiwan has dropped to fourth in terms of overall IT hardware manufacturing from third in the first half of last year, around 72 percent of the production of IT devices in China is done by Taiwanese companies operating across the Strait, he said.

In the past, Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) has said the combined IT production of Taiwanese companies in Taiwan and China was more than Japan, making Taiwan No. 2 in the world. This statement is not true, according to the association. Japan commanded 19.1 percent of all IT manufacturing last year, while China added 10.7 percent and Taiwan built 7.6 percent of all devices. Combined, the production of China and Taiwan reached a world market share of 18.3 percent -- still nearly a percentage point away from Japan.

Huang also said IT hardware production accounts for 15 percent of Taiwan's GDP.

In a sign more manufacturing jobs are moving to China, Huang also pointed out that of the total amount of IT hardware produced by Taiwanese firms worldwide, production from China plants jumped from 36.9 percent last year to 49.4 percent in the first quarter of this year.

At the same time, the amount of tech gear actually made in Taiwan dropped from 47.1 percent last year down to 38.4 percent during the first quarter.