ITRI program predicts over NTD 700 billion value for Taiwan electronic components industry in '07

March 22, 2007

Taiwan's electronic components industry output is expected to see continued growth, according to a report by Industry and Technology Intelligence Services (ITIS), a program under the Industrial Technology Research Institute's Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center.

According to the ITIS report, entitled "The ROC Electronic Components Industry: Looking Back at 2006 and Looking to the Future", the electronic components industry was valued at NTD 666.2 billion in 2006, and was fueled mainly by IT product applications.

The ITIS anticipates the overall electronic components industry will be worth nearly NTD 746.5 billion in 2007.

The ITIS said Taiwan's active consumer electronics market in 2006 has driven growth in electronic components: the industry was worth NTD 666.2 in 2006, and grew 12% over 2005.

According to the ITIS report, IT products comprised the bulk of electronic components from Taiwan at 39%. In comparison to 2005, IT product applications declined in representing electronic components orders, while telecommunications products, consumer electronics and automotive parts showed clear growth.

The report also pointed to a general trend of producers moving to China, as Taiwan electronics components manufacturers and downstream suppliers seek to accommodate the on-site supply of goods while utilizing cheaper labor and land resources.

In 2005, 50% of Taiwan's electronic components manufacturers were overseas; this figure rose to 52% in 2006, making China Taiwan's major location for electronic components production lines. Manufacturers of PCB, flexible printed circuits, and connectors also continue to expand their production scope in China, said the report.

The report noted that downstream demand for IT, telecommunications, consumer electronics, and automotive sectors and game consoles will continue to grow in 2007. Deliveries for the IT market will still see 10% growth thanks to falling notebook prices, and the cell phone market will also see growth in the emerging markets of India, and Bangladesh, China, and Russia.

The global electronic components market is expected to grow in 2007 by 6%, or nearly USD 158 billion. The key factor in this is the expansion of production lines and factories in China by the US, Taiwan, and Japan.

(Central News Agency)

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