The production value of Taiwan’s mobile phone manufacturing sector for the first quarter of this year fell almost 20 percent from a quarter earlier, reflecting the traditional slow season, a government-funded research institute said in a report yesterday.
Output for the mobile phone production sector for the January-March period totaled NT$208.6 billion (US$7.06 billion), down 19.8 percent from a quarter earlier and down 10.7 percent from a year earlier, Industry and Technology Intelligence Services (ITIS) said in the report.
ITIS said sales of Taiwan-made communications gadgets, in particular personal communications devices, came under attack from fierce foreign competition in the first quarter.
The research institute said that because local mobile phone manufacturers had failed to launch new models during the period, Taiwan’s personal communications device makers lagged behind their foreign rivals in terms of sales.
In the first quarter, output in the personal communications device segment fell 23.8 percent from the fourth quarter to NT$123.8 billion. The first quarter figure also dropped 17.8 percent from a year earlier.
However, the popularity of smartphones boosted demand for mobile Internet services in the first quarter, the report said.
ITIS said the production value of Taiwan’s communications services sector during the three-month period totaled NT$100.4 billion, up 1.5 percent from a quarter earlier, and 5.7 percent higher than a year earlier.
Looking ahead, after inventory adjustments in the global telecoms industry in the first quarter, demand for Internet communications equipment is expected to rise in the second quarter, ITIS said.
In addition, several international mobile phone brands are scheduled to launch new models and introduce budget models to cater to Chinese users in the second quarter, which are expected to lift buying interest, the research institute said.
As a result, ITIS said, output of the local communications device manufacturing sector for the second quarter is expected to rise 28.3 percent from the first quarter and hit NT$267.6 billion.
For the entire year, production value of the communications device manufacturing sector is expected to reach NT$1.06 trillion, up 0.8 percent from last year on the back of solid sales of smartphones, ITIS said.
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