Print

Mail

wiki links

Asia-Pacific region drives electronics demand

The Asia-Pacific region is becoming an important growth driver for the global electronics sector as demand in other key markets falters, Standard Chartered Bank said in a report.

But a strong performance from the region will not be enough to rescue thesector if the US economy hits a slump, the British-based bank said in a report on the industry received here over the weekend.

"The outlook for the US economy is paramount for the electronics industry as it dominates demand," chief sector strategist Helen Henton wrote in the report, adding the world's biggest economy "dominates two of the key end markets" namely computer hardware and consumer electronics. Regional economies, most of which are heavily reliant on electronics exports, are growing in importance but the bulk of the demand is for components used in the manufacture of products bound for the US, the report said.

"Consequently, forecasts for below trend growth in the US through 2003 will weigh on the sector," Henton said.

She said the US economy is in for "a slow recovery with GDP growth remaining below trend at 2.2 percent in 2002 and 2.8 percent in 2003," the report said.
This story has been viewed 1914 times.