Taiwan’s computer and information service industry led several sectors in achieving an all-time sales high for the first quarter, with total revenue exceeding NT$115 billion (US$3.87 billion), the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Data compiled by the Department of Statistics showed that revenue in the industry was NT$115.8 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 11.9 percent from the same period last year.
The computer programming design sector accounted for NT$87.2 billion, driven by demand for system integration services, information security equipment and PC software, the ministry said.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
The other NT$28.6 billion was from the information services sector, mainly due to sales promotions by online auction platforms, backed by continued growth in cloud data computing and backup services, it said.
The professional technical services industry reported first-quarter revenue of NT$79.9 billion, up 13 percent from a year earlier to set a record for the period.
Advertising and market research, which comprises about half of the sector by revenue, reported sales growth of 17.3 percent, while management consulting and design services, which each make up about one-quarter of the sector’s revenue, reported growth of just over 10 percent each, the ministry said.
Only photography services, comprising just over 2 percent of the industry, reported a sales decline, with the drop just under 4 percent, it said.
The leasing industry reported record revenue of NT$37.4 billion in the first quarter, a 4.1-percent annual increase, the ministry said.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”