Last month saw industrial production rebound at its fastest pace in nine months, backed by a jump in output by semiconductor manufacturers, which benefited from the debut of Apple’s Inc’s latest iPhone models, statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday showed.
Industrial production climbed 7.74 percent annually last month, ministry data showed.
Manufacturing, which contributed 93 percent to industrial output as a whole, expanded 8.35 percent year-on-year last month, surpassing the ministry’s forecast of a 5 percent increase.
“Sales of mobile devices by global brands stimulated inventory demand for electronic components, which spurred production in foundry, chip packaging and chip substrates” last month, the ministry said in a statement.
Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and chip packaging and testing service provider Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光半導體) are among the biggest beneficiaries of Apple’s launch of the iPhone 7 series early this month.
A long-awaited recovery in the LCD panel sector also helped, the ministry said.
LCD panel manufacturers posted a 4.47 percent annual increase in output due to recovering demand, ending 18 straight months of contraction, it said.
That bodes well for the nation’s manufacturing output outlook for the current quarter.
The ministry expects the sector’s expansion to extend into this month, which should lift quarterly figures on an annual basis.
That would mark the first quarterly growth since the first quarter last year, the ministry said.
“Year-end holiday season demand, persistent demand for new mobile devices, as well as proliferating demand for new technologies such as Internet of Things, car electronics and virtual reality devices are driving electronic component production,” the ministry said. “On top of that, stabilizing crude oil prices and steel prices should help sustain the manufacturing sector’s growth momentum.”
Last month, the electronics component segment, which makes up the bulk of manufacturing output, saw production rise 13.34 percent from a year earlier, with the strongest growth coming from semiconductors at an annual rate of 19.23 percent, ministry data showed.
Of the nation’s six major manufacturing sectors, only machine tool makers continued to see output shrink last month.
However, the contraction slowed to 2.76 percent last month because of rising demand for custom-made tools and factory automation, snapping 11 months of double-digit percentage declines, the ministry said.
In the first eight months of the year, manufacturing output contracted 0.8 percent, compared with the same period last year.
In a separate statement, the ministry said that wholesale revenue rose 3.4 percent annually last month to NT$832.8 billion (US$26.5 billion), ending 18 months of decline.
The ministry attributed the growth to strong demand for premium smartphones, as well as Internet of Things and automotive electronics products.
Retail sales were little changed at NT$328.4 billion last month, as department store and convenience store sales fell, offsetting growth in demand for food during the Ghost Month, as well as pharmaceuticals and automobiles, the ministry said.
The ministry expects wholesale revenue to rise further this month, thanks to the launch of new mobile devices and cars, in addition to stabilizing steel and crude prices.
Retail sales are forecast to fall as people cut back on travel and restaurant spending during the typhoon season, it said.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six