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.
The demise of the coal industry left the US’ Appalachian region in tatters, with lost jobs, spoiled water and countless kilometers of abandoned underground mines. Now entrepreneurs are eyeing the rural region with ambitious visions to rebuild its economy by converting old mines into solar power systems and data centers that could help fuel the increasing power demands of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. One such project is underway by a non-profit team calling itself Energy DELTA (Discovery, Education, Learning and Technology Accelerator) Lab, which is looking to develop energy sources on about 26,305 hectares of old coal land in
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
Netflix on Friday faced fierce criticism over its blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros Discovery. The streaming giant is already viewed as a pariah in some Hollywood circles, largely due to its reluctance to release content in theaters and its disruption of traditional industry practices. As Netflix emerged as the likely winning bidder for Warner Bros — the studio behind Casablanca, the Harry Potter movies and Friends — Hollywood’s elite launched an aggressive campaign against the acquisition. Titanic director James Cameron called the buyout a “disaster,” while a group of prominent producers are lobbying US Congress to oppose the deal,
Two Chinese chipmakers are attracting strong retail investor demand, buoyed by industry peer Moore Threads Technology Co’s (摩爾線程) stellar debut. The retail portion of MetaX Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co’s (上海沐曦) upcoming initial public offering (IPO) was 2,986 times oversubscribed on Friday, according to a filing. Meanwhile, Beijing Onmicro Electronics Co (北京昂瑞微), which makes radio frequency chips, was 2,899 times oversubscribed on Friday, its filing showed. The bids coincided with Moore Threads’ trading debut, which surged 425 percent on Friday after raising 8 billion yuan (US$1.13 billion) on bets that the company could emerge as a viable local competitor to Nvidia
RSS