The nation’s industrial output last month expanded by 1.2 percent annually, bringing last year’s industrial production index to a record high of 109.63, up 2.9 percent, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The manufacturing sector index, which contributed more than 92 percent to industrial output, last year gained 3.74 percent annually to 111.42, its highest level since records started in 1953, the ministry said.
“The continued recovery of the global economy benefited the nation’s manufacturing sector last year,” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Wang Shu-chuan (王淑娟) told a news conference in Taipei.
Last month, the manufacturing sector grew 0.93 percent annually, the 20th consecutive month of annual expansion, ministry data showed.
The machinery equipment industry contributed 0.93 percent growth, jumping 7.41 percent annually last month on rising demand for industrial automation worldwide, Wang said.
Driven by demand for flash memory products, printed circuit boards and ICs, production of electronics components last month rose 0.9 percent year-on-year, she said.
The production of computers and optical products last month increased 2.94 percent annually, ending two months of annual contraction, supported by surging production for semiconductor testing equipment, which offset the weak output of a domestic smartphone company’s handsets, Wang said.
The output of vehicles and automotive components was a dark spot in the manufacturing sector last month, with a 2.09 percent annual decrease amid aggressive competition from foreign automakers, she said.
The manufacturing sector’s production this month is estimated to grow 5 percent from the same period last year, due to a lower comparison base and the ongoing global economic recovery, she added.
The nation’s wholesale revenue last month grew 3.5 percent annually to NT$886.8 billion (US$30.16 billion) on strong shipments of smartphones, servers and memory products, the ministry said in a separate statement.
Wholesale revenue last year rose 5 percent to NT$10.02 trillion, the largest annual increase in the past seven years, it said.
Annual sales in the retail sector climbed 1.2 percent to NT$4.14 trillion, while yearly revenue in the food and beverage sector grew 2.9 percent to NT$452.3 billion, it added.
The retail and food and beverage sectors recorded their best year-on-year performances since 1953, ministry data showed.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
Taiwan’s long-term economic competitiveness will hinge not only on national champions like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) but also on the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, a US-based scholar has said. At a lecture in Taipei on Tuesday, Jeffrey Ding, assistant professor of political science at the George Washington University and author of "Technology and the Rise of Great Powers," argued that historical experience shows that general-purpose technologies (GPTs) — such as electricity, computers and now AI — shape long-term economic advantages through their diffusion across the broader economy. "What really matters is not who pioneers
BUBBLE? Only a handful of companies are seeing rapid revenue growth and higher valuations, and it is not enough to call the AI trend a transformation, an analyst said Artificial intelligence (AI) is entering a more challenging phase next year as companies move beyond experimentation and begin demanding clear financial returns from a technology that has delivered big gains to only a small group of early adopters, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said yesterday. Most organizations have been able to justify AI investments through cost recovery or modest efficiency gains, but few have achieved meaningful revenue growth or long-term competitive advantage, the consultancy said in its 2026 AI Business Predictions report. This growing performance gap is forcing executives to reconsider how AI is deployed across their organizations, it said. “Many companies
TAIWAN VALUE CHAIN: Foxtron is to fully own Luxgen following the transaction and it plans to launch a new electric model, the Foxtron Bria, in Taiwan next year Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday said that its board of directors approved the disposal of its electric vehicle (EV) unit, Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), to Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進) for NT$787.6 million (US$24.98 million). Foxtron, a half-half joint venture between Yulon affiliate Hua-Chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co (華創車電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), expects to wrap up the deal in the first quarter of next year. Foxtron would fully own Luxgen following the transaction, including five car distributing companies, outlets and all employees. The deal is subject to the approval of the Fair Trade Commission, Foxtron said. “Foxtron will be
RSS