The nation’s export orders fell 7.4 percent annually to US$27.67 billion last month, better than the government’s expectation of a 10 percent decline, due to improving demand for smartphones and laptops, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The latest results represent the 11th consecutive month of contraction in export orders, a critical economic indicator which sheds light on actual shipments one to three months ahead.
“The 7.4 percent annual decline was smaller than our previous forecast, mainly because of recovering demand for notebooks from European and US markets, and increasing orders for chips used in smartphones from China,” the ministry’s Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) told a news conference.
Supported by higher demand for notebooks, the annual decline for Taiwan’s information and communication sector eased to 1.8 percent last month from the 11.2 percent fall recorded a month earlier, Lin said.
She said the contraction in electronics products also narrowed to 1.5 percent from the 7.9 percent decline in January on the back of robust demand for solar products and chips used in smartphones.
However, orders for Taiwan’s basic metals, petrochemicals, machinery goods, precision instruments and plastic and rubber products still remained in negative territory, with the decline in orders for precision instruments deteriorating, Lin said.
Orders for Taiwan’s precision instruments plunged 32.5 percent to US$1.35 billion last month from a year earlier, marking the fastest pace of contraction since April in 2009, dragging down by tepid demand for panels from China, the ministry said.
“The rising competition from China and falling average selling prices for panel products weakened orders for Taiwan’s panel products last month,” Lin said.
By export destination, orders from the US contracted for the fourth straight month to US$7.56 billion last month, primarily due to weak demand for smartphones over the past few months, Lin said.
Orders from China and Hong Kong, Europe and Japan all fell last month from a year ago, the data showed.
Orders from ASEAN were the only bright spot with orders growing by 0.4 percent from a year earlier, driven by demand for notebooks and smartphones, Lin said.
The ministry expects export orders to increase this month from last month, with the decline slowing to less than 10 percent, Lin said, citing an internal survey of local firms.
The survey found 68 percent of local manufacturers said they expect to receive more orders this month from last month.
AVOIDING CONFUSION: Passengers are to be able to check in two items of luggage, while the free weight allowance is to be increased to conform with other airlines EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday announced that from June 23 it is to adopt a new baggage allowance policy for all passengers with a higher weight limit as it aims to benefit passengers and increase efficiency. The airline currently has a two-system baggage policy: It allows passengers flying to the US and Canada to check in two pieces of baggage with a free weight allowance, while for those flying to Asia, Europe and Oceania there is also a free weight allowance, but no limit on the number of pieces of baggage. From June 23, passengers would be able to check in two
MORE THAN BUZZ: The chip designer said it has received numerous orders from automakers to supply 5G modem chips, as it works to expand beyond smartphones MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it would ship the first 5G chips for vehicles to customers in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of the year, as it moves to expand the reach of its 5G chips beyond smartphones. The Hsinchu-based chip designer said it has been developing 5G chips for connected vehicles over the past few years, targeting applications such as telematics and in-vehicle information systems. “We are seeing demand for 5G technology from numerous makers of connected cars, including electric vehicle makers. We have obtained numerous orders from automakers to supply 5G modem chips with highly integrated features,” J.C. Hsu
Qualcomm Inc yesterday said it would maintain its supply chain strategy of sourcing chips from multiple foundry partners, including advanced chips from two major suppliers, to ensure a sufficient chip supply amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualcomm is reportedly working with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co on advanced products, such as 4-nanometer chips, for its new flagship 5G chips, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 series. Qualcomm is sourcing chips made by mature technologies from several foundry partners, the company said. Alex Katouzian, general manager of Qualcomm Technologies Inc’s mobile, compute and XR business, told a virtual media briefing that
US DRAM maker Micron Technology Inc is set to install the industry’s most cutting-edge technology — extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment — in its facility in Taichung this year, the company said yesterday. In early preparation for the volume production of 1-gamma nanometer node DRAM, “we plan to introduce EUV tools to our Taichung fab later this year,” Micron president and chief executive officer Sanjay Mehrotra said via video at the Computex trade show in Taipei. Gamma refers to the dimension of half the distance between cells in a DRAM chip. Micron is also looking forward to beginning mass production of its
RSS