Investments in fixed assets, excluding land, by the nation’s manufacturing sector hit a record NT$349.1 billion (US$11.44 billion) last quarter, led by accelerating investments from semiconductor companies, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a report on Tuesday.
The electronic components industry topped the list, with investments growing 13 percent year-on-year to NT$222 billion to account for 63.6 percent of the total, the ministry said, as chipmakers poured money into advanced process technologies.
The ministry also noted a rise in fixed-asset purchases by other electronic components makers as they expanded capacity in light of upcoming 5G rollouts.
The chemical materials industry ranked second with investments of NT$17.4 billion, down 4 percent from a year earlier due to a high comparison base, it said.
Coming in third was the metal product industry, with fixed-asset purchases soaring 56.1 percent to NT$14.5 billion on the back of steady investments from the offshore wind power industry and construction of new production facilities by local firms, it said.
In light of the trade dispute between the US and China, investments by the computer, electronic goods and optical components industry increased 5.1 percent to NT$13.3 billion, but the base metal industry posted a decline of 17.1 percent to NT$8.5 billion due to a high base effect last year, it said.
In the first three quarters of the year, fixed-asset investments surged 23.7 percent year-on-year to NT$1.01 trillion.
Separately, overall revenue from Taiwan’s manufacturing sector (including sales from overseas production) declined 5.3 percent year-on-year last quarter to NT$7.06 trillion, data published in the same report showed.
While the sector witnessed an across-the-board decline, traditional industries took the biggest hit, as raw material prices dropped, while companies increasingly held back on investments due to a global economic slowdown, the ministry said.
The computer, electronic goods and optical components industry, which topped the list in terms of revenue, contracted 3.6 percent to NT$2.38 trillion, as PC firms frontloaded their orders in the second quarter, while delayed shipments of smart mobile devices dampened sales for the industry, it said.
The electronic components industry similarly witnessed a 3.1 percent drop to NT$1.39 trillion, as the flat-panel market remained oversupplied, while prices of DRAM and passive components slumped, it said.
Revenue from the sector totaled NT$19.98 trillion in the past three quarters, down 3.4 percent year-on-year, the ministry said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last