The nation is expected to post a record high in export orders for last month on the back of rising demand for mobile devices — particularly smartphones — the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said on Saturday.
The ministry said the value of export orders received last month could reach US$44 billion, which would surpass the previous high of US$43.31 billion recorded in September.
It would also be the ninth consecutive month in which the nation’s exports saw year-on-year growth.
The ministry is due to release the data for last month on Thursday.
In September, export orders rose 12.7 percent from the same period last year and climbed 13.4 percent from the previous month.
MULTINATIONAL BOOST
The growth was largely driven by the launch of mobile devices by multinational brands, but also by rising demand for notebooks.
Market analysts said in particular Apple Inc’s launch of two new iPhones in September served as a major catalyst to the uptick in business for Taiwanese suppliers.
The ministry said the positive effects of the launch were expected to have remained in place last month, and efforts by international buyers to build up inventories ahead of the Christmas shopping season could also help Taiwanese exporters.
Another potential source of growth, the ministry said, was the push by many countries to develop 4G telecom services.
4G UPGRADE
That could lead consumers to purchase 4G-compatible smartphones to replace old models, which would help Taiwanese smartphone suppliers and contractors, the ministry said.
Citing a survey, the ministry said that companies in the electronics, communications and precision instrument sectors said their export orders were up last month.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
WORLD DOMINATION: TSMC’s lead over second-placed Samsung has grown as the latter faces increased Chinese competition and the end of clients’ product life cycles Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the No. 1 title in the global pure-play wafer foundry business in the third quarter of this year, seeing its market share growing to 64.9 percent to leave South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, the No. 2 supplier, further behind, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report. TSMC posted US$23.53 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 13.0 percent from a quarter earlier, which boosted its market share to 64.9 percent, up from 62.3 percent in the second quarter, the report issued on Monday last week showed. TSMC benefited from the debut of flagship
TENSE TIMES: Formosa Plastics sees uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration in the US, geopolitical tensions and China’s faltering economy Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted overall revenue of NT$118.61 billion (US$3.66 billion) for last month, marking a 7.2 percent rise from October, but a 2.5 percent fall from one year earlier. The group has mixed views about its business outlook for the current quarter and beyond, as uncertainty builds over the US power transition and geopolitical tensions. Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), a vertically integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, reported a monthly uptick of 15.3 percent in its revenue to NT$18.15 billion, as Typhoon Kong-rey postponed partial shipments slated for October and last month, it said. The
COLLABORATION: The operations center shows the close partnership between Taiwan and Japan in the field of semiconductors, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Tokyo Electron Ltd, Asia’s biggest semiconductor equipment supplier, yesterday launched a NT$2 billion (US$61.5 million) operations center in Tainan as it aims to expand capacity and meet growing demand. Its new Taiwan Operations Center is expected to help customers release their products faster, boost production efficiency and shorten equipment repair time in a cost-effective way, the company said. The center is about a five-minute drive from the factories of its major customers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) advanced 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer fabs. The operations center would have about 1,000 employees when it is fully utilized, the company