Taiwan’s exports of integrated circuit chips last month dropped for a sixth consecutive month on slowing global demand.
Chip exports decreased 20.8 percent from a year earlier to a four-month low of US$12.6 billion, Ministry of Finance data showed.
Taiwan is home to Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp’s go-to chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), along with a coterie of smaller, but essential chip industry players.
Photo: Reuters
The annual decline in chip exports was the largest since March 2009, partly amplified by a high base in June last year.
“The demand for integrated circuits continues to be weak,” the ministry said in a statement accompanying the data, as sticky inflation and continuous rate hikes by central banks have tapered the global economy.
Consumer tech firms have spent much of this year working through an inventory glut, which is expected to weigh on sales for the likes of TSMC through at least the end of the year.
Sales of smartphones have yet to resume growth after a protracted slump last year, while PC and laptop makers are also struggling to compel new purchases and continue to see double-digit declines.
US-China trade tensions have also affected Taiwan’s biggest industry. Shipments to China, including Hong Kong, which together account for more than 50 percent of Taiwan’s chip exports, fell for an eighth consecutive month, the data showed.
However, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) is cautiously optimistic about Taiwan’s semiconductor industry’s business outlook for this quarter.
“Looking into the third quarter, we expect handset related semiconductor supply chain to see downside risk given weaker-than-expected consumer and handset demand recovery in China,” Yuanta said in a note on Tuesday. “On the other hand, we expect PC and memory sectors to see more noticeable fundamental improvement as inventory digestion ends, with strong seasonality for consumer electronics to emerge in the third Additional reporting by staff writer
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