The nation’s industrial production rose 13.69 percent year-on-year last month, thanks to steady and strong demand for new technology along with a general global recovery, the Ministry of Economic Affairs reported yesterday.
On a monthly basis, industrial production increased by 2.14 percent.
The ministry uses industrial production to gauge output in Taiwan’s five main industries: manufacturing, mining and quarrying, electricity and gas supply, water supply, and architectural engineering.
Photo: Ge Yu-hao, Taipei Times
Manufacturing production, which contributed 90 percent of total industrial production, grew 14.62 percent annually last month, ministry data showed.
Industrial and manufacturing production increased for the 19th month in a row, data showed.
Among local manufacturing sectors, output of electronic components reached a record high last month, gaining 14.91 percent year-on-year and posting the 21st consecutive month of double-digit annual growth, the ministry said.
Orders in preparation for the annual release of a popular international brand’s new handset model contributed to the growth, alongside continued strong demand for 5G, the Internet of Things applications and automotive chips, Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑) said.
“The increase in production capacity for certain chip packagers and testers have also boosted production,” Huang said.
Large flat-panel displays for televisions and monitors for other electronic devices were also in strong demand, he added.
While tech-related production was strong throughout last year, it is the demand for non-tech products that has pushed the nation’s manufacturing to a new high this year, the ministry said.
Bright spots include machinery equipment, which saw output grow 31.61 percent on the global recovery, while production of basic metals rose 18.14 percent year-on-year due to strong demand for automotive goods, construction needs and higher commodity prices.
Production of automobile and auto parts rose 29.86 percent year-on-year last month as new emissions standards for diesel-powered vehicles went into effect, creating demand for larger sedans and large trucks, the ministry said.
The demand for small electric vehicles and auto parts also increased last month due to aggressive sales tactics by car dealers and the demand in the European and US markets, the ministry said.
Huang said that the shadow of COVID-19 has “not quite lifted” despite the apparently robust global recovery.
“Entering into the fall and winter seasons, it’s troubling to anticipate the possibility of pandemic resurgence around the world,” Huang said. “We also have to continue with further uncertainties such as the intensifying China-US trade tension.”
For the first eight months of the year, industrial production rose 14.42 percent year-on-year, while manufacturing grew 15.43 percent, ministry data showed.
The ministry is anticipating a year-on-year growth of 7.9 percent to 12.3 percent for industrial production for this month. However, month-on-month, it is expecting a contraction of 2.5 percent to an expansion of 1.5 percent.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San