Sales in the computer and information technology (IT) services industry reached a record high of NT$453.4 billion (US$15.7 billion) last year amid a boom in people working from home and remote education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said last week.
Industry revenue last year rose 12.4 percent from a year earlier, Department of Statistics data showed.
The growth was its highest since 2008, the data showed.
Photo: Lai Hsiao-tung, Taipei Times
With growing demand for emerging technologies such as 5G applications, high-performance computing and Internet of Things devices, and cloud technology-based data processing services, many enterprises have sought more hardware and software to address cybersecurity concerns, the ministry said on Tuesday.
Computer programming design, consulting and related services were the industry’s major sales growth drivers, with revenue reaching a high of NT$341.4 billion, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, as businesses sought to build storage networks and enhance their data protection, the ministry said.
The ministry added that the IT services segment posted NT$112 billion in revenue, also a record high, up 14.1 percent from a year earlier, largely due to intensive promotions by online auction site operators and social media platforms.
The number of workers in the industry rose 3 percent from a year earlier to 119,000, overcoming an average 0.1 percent decline in the service sector as a whole, the ministry said.
The average regular wage in the industry rose 3.5 percent to NT$69,000, also beating the service industry’s average of NT$45,000, it added.
Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewelry shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned. A souring of Tokyo-Beijing relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fueled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash. However, businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety. “Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” Ito
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and the company’s former chairman, Mark Liu (劉德音), both received the Robert N. Noyce Award -- the semiconductor industry’s highest honor -- in San Jose, California, on Thursday (local time). Speaking at the award event, Liu, who retired last year, expressed gratitude to his wife, his dissertation advisor at the University of California, Berkeley, his supervisors at AT&T Bell Laboratories -- where he worked on optical fiber communication systems before joining TSMC, TSMC partners, and industry colleagues. Liu said that working alongside TSMC