• Gong Jun-rong and Staff Reporter
• 2011-08-27
• 09:11 (GMT+8)

Taiwan’s smartphone industry is likely to be a major driver for the country’s exports in the latter half of 2011. Picture: HTC smartphones. (File Photo/Huang Guo-shu)

Despite the impact of the European and US debt crises, Taiwan is expected to achieve export growth of 10% in the second half of 2011 due to strong demand from China and other emerging markets, Huang Wen-jung, deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), said Aug 25.

Huang predicted that hi-tech products such as smartphones, ICT (information and communications technology) products and solar cells would be major drivers of Taiwan’s exports in the second half of the year.

TAITRA’s market reseacrh department released a report on Taiwan’s exports during this period, addressing the primary concern of most people of whether the European and US debt crises will negatively impact Taiwan’s exports.

Huang said the country’s statistics bureau had revised its forecast for export growth downwards for the second half of 2011 and 2012, to 13.72% and 8.52%, respectively.

TAITRA also carried out a study on the impact of the struggling global economy on Taiwan’s exports.

Judging by its performance in the first seven months of this year, Taiwan’s export growth is expected to remain above 10%, according to Huang. Citing statistics from the first seven months of 2011, he said China was Taiwan’s biggest export destination, accounting for 40.4% of exports. Emerging economies were Taiwan’s second-largest market, accounting for 25.8% of exports, up from 23.9% in the same period last year.

In addition, for the first seven months of this year, exports to emerging countries grew the most, by 27.1%, while exports to the United States and Europe grew by 25.1% and 13.2% respectively, while exports to China grew by 10.8%.

Exports of Taiwan’s ICT products, including smartphones, registered the highest growth of 67.9% for the first seven months of the year, indicating that the importance of smartphones in Taiwan’s export basket, Huang said.

Orders from China accounted for 26.1% of the country’s orders, while Europe and the United States accounted for 40.4% and Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) made up 10% each. In terms of monetary value, orders placed by Europe and the United States grew byover 18%.

While Taiwan is expected to reach 10% export growth in the second half of this year, an anticipated economic slowdown in Europe and the United States during this period and a declining South Korean currency could affect Taiwan’s exports. TAITRA has therefore decided to strengthen its promotional efforts in China, emerging markets, Europe and the United States, Huang said.

source:http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20110827000001&cid=1102&MainCatID=11

2011/08/30

Taipei, Aug. 30, 2011 (CENS)–E Ink Holdings Inc. (formerly Prime View International Co., Ltd., or PVI) of Taiwan, a major supplier of EPD (electronic paper display), is forecast to achieve record monthly revenue in the third quarter due to rising shipments, according to some institutional investors.

Scott Liu, E Ink`s chairman, said that his company`s e-book reader module shipments in the second half will grow by more than 50% over the first half, hence has raised annual shipments from 20 million-30 million units to 25 million-30 million.

E Ink pointed out that demand from Europe and the U.S. for e-book reader has been increasingly strong. In North America, such portable device has become one of the hottest technology gadgets of the summer. Liu said e-book vendors` efforts in service platforms, pricing, and functional performance have made e-book reader a hot seller.

Quoting industry investigations, an analyst at Concord Securities pointed out that Amazon expects to ship about 10 million units of its new e-book readers in the second half, to sizably raise E Ink`s shipments.

In 2012, analyst added, Amazon expects to place at least 50% more orders.

(by Quincy Liang)

source:http://cens.com/cens/html/en/news/news_inner_37503.html