Growth in the production value of the nation's information technology (IT) hardware manufacturing sector may slow over the next three years after peaking this year, according to a report released by the Taipei-based Market Intelligence Center (MIC) on Monday.
The output value of the IT hardware industry is expected to grow by 19.6 percent from a year ago to US$68.41 billion this year, the fastest expansion in the last three years, the center said. The center operates under the semi-official Institute for Information Industry (
But next year, production value growth is expected to slow to 15 percent, or US$78.72 billion, and further contract to 10 percent in 2006, or US$86.79 billion and 9.4 percent in 2007, or US$94.96 billion, the center said.
The research house attributed the gradual slowdown in growth to the maturing personal computer (PC) industry. The maturing market will leave less room for Taiwanese companies -- which are already leaders in the global IT hardware manufacture arena -- to expand.
Taiwan is expected to churn out 32.2 million laptops this year, accounting for 69.8 percent of global shipments. The nation is also expected to ship 107.6 million motherboards and 46.2 million liquid-crystal-display monitors this year, accounting for 78.9 percent and 68.2 percent of global shipments respectively, according to the center.
Since 2002, the nation's computer hardware sector has been expanding at a double-digit rate. The growth followed a 9.1 percent contraction in 2001, with the segment dragged down by the sluggish global IT and electronics industry at that time.
Meanwhile, a report on PC shipments released Monday by Framingham, Massachusetts-based research institute IDC showed that worldwide shipments of PCs grew nearly 12 percent in the third quarter, on strong European sales and rising commercial demand.
Total PC shipments for the July-September period rose to 44.2 million units, compared with 39.5 million a year ago, according to IDC.
The research institute attributed overall growth to aggressive pricing by PC makers, along with rapid adoption of mobile technology, businesses replacing older computers and the strength of the Euro in currency markets.
"PC market performance in the third quarter reflects persistent commercial activity and continuing demand in areas such as mobile computing, Europe and the rest of the world," said Loren Loverde, director of IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.
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