Taiwan’s economy might expand 4.1 percent this year, accelerating from a 3.11 percent pickup last year, as its exports would continue to benefit from surging demand for electronics products amid and after the COVID-19 pandemic, global research body IHS Markit said yesterday.
Taiwan has been one of the world’s most resilient economies during the pandemic-triggered recession last year.
Economic indicators at the beginning of this year signal improving growth momentum for its economy over the coming months, as the global economy and trade rebounds, the US-British information provider said.
Photo: Chien Jung-feng, Taipei Times
According to the latest IHS Markit survey of business confidence in Taiwan, the 12-month outlook for manufacturing production in January rose to its highest level since April 2014, reflecting strengthening new orders, it said.
IHS Markit expects Taiwan’s exports to increase by about 13 percent this year, as global demand for electronics has recovered significantly from the lows seen in the first half of last year, when lockdowns in major countries disrupted production and consumer spending.
With an improving economic landscape worldwide following the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, global demand for electronics products would remain sturdy, IHS Markit said.
The pandemic has sped up the pace of digital transformation for companies and organizations, a trend that underpinned the global shift to remote work and spurred demand for electronic devices, such as computers, printers and mobile phones, it said.
That helps explain why Taiwan is in the rare position of posting an increase in GDP last year, when most other economies either plunged into recession or experienced a material slowdown caused by the shockwaves of the pandemic, it added.
IHS Markit said the easing of lockdowns in many countries is facilitating a rebound in consumer spending, helping boost demand for a wide range of consumer electronics.
Therefore, electronics demand would receive further backing from major technological developments, including rollouts of the latest wireless communication technologies over the next five years, which would drive up demand for 5G smartphones, it said.
Demand for industrial electronics is also expected to grow substantially over the medium term, as industrial automation and the Internet of Things would fuel demand for industrial electronics, IHS Markit said.
Auto demand has also shown a concrete rebound after a slump in the first half of last year, which contributed to a shortage in semiconductors used in vehicles, as Taiwan is responsible for the bulk of global chip production, it said.
These factors lend support to the medium-term outlook for Taiwan’s electronics sector exports and capital expenditure, which would be key drivers of economic growth, IHS Markit said.
SUPPLY HICCUPS: Poor manufacturing yields at Apple’s overseas suppliers have caused at least one maker of its new MiniLED displays to pause production, sources said The next-generation display destined to be a highlight of Apple Inc’s upcoming top-tier iPad Pro is facing production issues that could lead to short initial supplies of the new device, people familiar with the matter said. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant plans to showcase a new MiniLED display technology in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro set to be announced as early as the second half of this month. However, the firm’s overseas suppliers are dealing with poor manufacturing yields, the people who asked not to be named discussing sensitive matters said. At least one of the MiniLED makers has had to pause production as
END OF AN ERA: The Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets have served the airline well, but new-generation aircraft are more fuel-efficient, CAL chairman Hsieh Shih-chien said China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 華航) yesterday bid farewell to its last four Boeing 747-400 planes, ending the era of the “Queen of the Skies” at the airline. CAL has since 1975 operated a total of 29 747 series aircraft manufactured by Boeing Co. In 1990, it started receiving delivery of 19 747-400 jumbo jets, with the last one, the B-18215, delivered in 2005, it said. The B-18215 was the last of the passenger model produced by Boeing, making the 16-year-old aircraft the world’s youngest 747-400, CAL chairman Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙) told an event to bid farewell to the planes at Taiwan Taoyuan
Several hundred people have already booked their tickets and begun training for a spectacular voyage: a few minutes, or perhaps days, in the weightlessness of space. The mainly wealthy first-time space travelers are preparing to take part in one of several private missions which are preparing to launch. The era of space tourism is on the horizon 60 years after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space. Two companies, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin LLC, are building spacecraft capable of sending private clients on suborbital flights to the edge of space lasting several minutes. Glenn King is the director of
DIVERSE SUPPLY: TSMC chairman Mark Liu said the firm’s US$12 billion investment in Arizona would succeed with continued bipartisan support from the US Congress Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, on Monday took part in a virtual White House summit about a global semiconductor shortage and Washington’s plans to strengthen US supply chains. The Hsinchu-based company was among 19 firms, including fellow chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co, GlobalFoundries Inc and Intel Corp, that attended the summit hosted by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, US National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. US President Joe Biden told executives in the meeting that there is bipartisan support in the US Congress for efforts to strengthen the US