Taiwan's information technology industry is expected to post nearly 12 percent growth over last year, a government-funded market research center said yesterday.
"The nation's IT industry production value is estimated to rise 11.9 percent this year to US$47.845 billion compared to last year, with growth in the sector expected to remain steady over the next few years," said Victor Tsan (
Year-on-year IT growth is forecast to hit 8.9 percent next year and 9.9 percent in 2004, he said.
"With the global economy expected to rebound in the third quarter of next year, Taiwan will benefit," Tsan said.
According to the IMF, the global GDP is expected to reach 3.7 percent next year, up from 2.8 percent this year and 2.5 percent last year.
Tsan made the remarks while releasing the research group's report on the outlook for Taiwan's IT industry.
Taiwan is estimated to have exported 86.6 million motherboards this year, accounting for 75 percent of global sales.
In addition, the nation produces 62 percent of the world's notebooks and will churn out 30 million units this year, the report said.
According to the report, liquid crystal monitors, digital still cameras and projectors are estimated to see a 30 percent, 31 percent and 35 percent increase in production value, respectively, next year.
"Projectors may be the next hot item," said John Chao (
Demand for the devices will grow as an increasing number of computer companies are integrating projectors with notebook PCs, he said.
Local projector makers such as Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) and BenQ Corp (明基電通) may benefit from this trend, Chao said.
The center, meanwhile, reported that South Korea is gaining on Taiwan as a major competitor.
South Korea's IT production value is expected to see tremendous growth this year, surging 23.8 percent over last year, "making it the second-fastest-growing IT-producing nation, lagging only behind China," Tsan said.
Like Taiwan, South Korea is moving away from producing low-end products and toward making high-tech items. The nation is also investing heavily in research and development, he said.
"South Korean companies are rapidly gaining OEM [original equipment manufacturer] orders as well as marketing their own brands," Tsan said.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure