Local electronics makers, including top flat-panel maker AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), saw exports from their factories at Central Taiwan Science Park double last quarter to more than NT$50 billion (US$1.55 billion), helped by recovering demand in the US and China, the park administration said yesterday.
The quarter-on-quarter increase reaffirmed expectations that exports from the science park, which hosts some of Taiwan’s biggest companies, will start growing again year-on-year from this quarter, as economic conditions in major export destinations improve, the park said.
Exports rose from NT$24.27 billion in the second quarter to NT$53.79 billion in the third quarter, with flat-panel companies posting the strongest growth, boosted by robust demand in China, the Taichung park’s statistics indicated.
That represented the best performance since the economic slump hit electronic makers last October. It indicated that domestic companies “will gradually recover from the global financial crisis,” the park said in a press release.
Asian countries were the top destinations for electronics in the third quarter at 94 percent of the park’s exports, the statement said. Flat-panel companies were the biggest contributor, with 83 percent of the exports, while semiconductor companies accounted for the remaining 17 percent.
Boosted by growing demand in China, flat-panel companies with operations at the park reported 143.9 percent quarterly growth in exports last quarter after an early rebound in the second quarter, the statement said.
AUO, the nation’s biggest maker of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels, said demand had recovered rapidly across the board, especially from Chinese TV makers.
AUO operates 13 factories, four of which are located in the Taichung park, including its most advanced 8.5-generation plant.
Computer memory chipmakers ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) and Rexchip Electronics Inc (瑞晶電子), a joint venture between Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體) and Japan’s Elpida Memory Inc, also have their most advanced plants there.
As of last month, local companies employed 19,728 workers at their Taichung facilities, down 4.5 percent from 20,665 last October.
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