The nation's market for information and communications technology (ICT) hardware, software and services will see growth of less than 5 percent this year, according to a research report released by the International Data Corp (IDC) yesterday.
The report said growth momentum is lacking in the Taiwan market mainly because the local sector is mature and saturated, while many contract manufacturers have moved to China.
While the nation's business application software and business intelligence products posted total sales of US$71 million and US$10.8 million, respectively, last year, the market for these products is expected to expand slightly by 1.1 percent this year, the report said.
Educational institutions were the major clients of the personal computer market last year and the government's measures to stimulate domestic demand also helped encourage businesses to replace and upgrade their computer systems, it said.
Sales of notebook computers were boosted by promotional packages offered by manufacturers such as Acer Inc, Asustek Computer Inc (
Taiwan's fixed-line telecommunications services saw a 2.9 percent growth in 2004 and sales of the traditional telephone service market did not decline despite the popularity of mobile phones and Internet telephones, the report said.
Meanwhile, the mobile phone penetration rate was 92.5 percent last year, the report said.
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