Business sentiment last month remained listless among local manufacturers due to continued weak end-market demand, but a sizeable number are looking at business picking up ahead, as the high sales season for technology products approaches, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The confidence gauge for the manufacturing industry was 89.3, shedding 2.02 points from April, as inventory adjustments lingered, TIER Economic Forecasting Center director Gordon Sun (孫明德) said.
However, the ratio of companies with positive views increased by 4.6 percentage points to 29.9 percent, while companies with a gloomy outlook fell by 0.7 percentage points to 24.4 percent, the monthly survey said.
Photo: CNA
Food, leisure and printing product manufacturers were upbeat, while suppliers of chemical, machinery and metal products, as well as transportation tools, were conservative, TIER said.
International research bodies recently raised GDP growth forecasts for the world, the US and Japan, lending support for the sentiment upturn, Sun said, adding that global firms also breathed a sigh of relief after the US Federal Reserve moved to keep interest rates unchanged.
“The worst is likely over, but it remains to be seen when the process of bottom building will come to an end and usher in a meaningful recovery,” Sun said.
The nation’s key economic barometers stay in negative territory, but their pace of decline has slowed down, he said.
Specifically, local firms in Apple Inc’s supply chains might benefit from its upcoming release of new iPhone series, and other electronics suppliers would enjoy growing demand for electric vehicles and artificial intelligence applications, the institute said.
Global technology brands might adopt a cautious approach to inventory building this time on concern inflation remains high, boding ill for spending on technology gadgets, Sun said.
Private consumption economic data appear to be the strongest, in light of robust retail revenue and auto sales, explaining why the business confidence among service providers edged up 0.57 points to 99.14, TIER found.
The rallies in the local bourse and foreign tourist arrivals helped drive up private consumption, Sun said.
Retailers, wholesale operators, restaurants, logistics and warehousing service providers are looking at continued business improvement in the coming six months, the institute said.
By contrast, construction companies and real-estate brokers stalled, as they remain under cost pressures despite raw material price declines, it said.
Furthermore, demand for housing and industrial factories subsided amid unfavorable policy measures, TIER said.
As a result, the sentiment reading for construction and property sectors dropped by 0.95 points to 93.47, it said.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
RSS