Combined sales across the computer and information technology (IT) service sector last quarter hit a record of NT$90.8 billion (US$3.04 billion), increasing 7.3 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
“The COVID-19 pandemic played an important role in driving market demand for the computer and IT service sector last quarter, which was especially visible within the computer programming industry,” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Wang Shu-chuan (王淑娟) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
The computer programming industry last quarter posted a 10.1 percent increase in sales to NT$69.2 billion thanks to heavy demand for software, which was tied to continuous growth in the production and export of servers, and network and communication devices, Wang said.
“The pandemic has forced many people to work from home, which has propelled companies to install network infrastructure or re-enforce existing ones through cybersecurity systems,” she said, adding that steady deployment of 5G technologies has also contributed to the industry’s growth.
In the first quarter, exports of electronics, and networking and communication devices increased 20 percent and 7.9 percent respectively year-on-year, the ministry said, citing data from the Bureau of Foreign Trade.
Although the spread of COVID-19 has benefited the computer and IT service sector, it adversely affected the technical support and professional service sector, which posted its steepest decline in more than 10 years.
Sales in the sector decreased 5 percent year-on-year to NT$69.1 billion amid waning market demand, the ministry said.
“It was bound to suffer due to its very nature, as companies have either pushed back plans or canceled activities,” Wang said.
In particular, the photography industry was the worst hit, with its sales falling 12.7 percent year-on-year to NT$1.27 billion, she said.
The advertising and market research industry, which contributed to about 50 percent of the technical support and professional service sector’s overall revenue, also faced a heavy setback, with its sales contracting 8.2 percent to NT$32.1 billion, ministry data showed.
Within the same sector, the management and consulting industry posted a 1.1 percent increase in sales to NT$18.3 billion due to growing corporate interest in renewable energies, Wang said.
Rental sector sales rose 7.5 percent year-on-year to NT$35.3 billion as the transportation rental industry posted a 16.2 percent increase in sales to NT$24.1 billion, data showed.
Apart from robust vehicle rentals, growing secondhand auto sales also contributed to the increase, Wang said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks