As the COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of people around the world to work from home, Taiwan’s export orders grew at their fastest pace in nearly two years in June, boosted by strong demand for telecommuting products such as MacBooks and iPhones.
Yimou Lee and Jeanny Kao for Reuters:
The island’s export orders, a bellwether of global technology demand, jumped 6.5% in June from a year earlier to $41 billion, Ministry of Economic Affairs data showed on Monday.
The outcome exceeded a 1.2% rise projected in a Reuters poll and a 0.4% increase in May. It was the fourth consecutive month of gains and the strongest since August 2018.
The ministry, which has repeatedly warned of a difficult outlook for orders because of the coronavirus pandemic, said the better-than-expected performance was due to strong demand for semiconductors and telecommuting products.
Strong electronics orders, including smartphones, which grew 23.9% on year also contributed to growth, the ministry said… June orders from the United States rose 13.6% from a year earlier, compared with 8.6% growth in May, while those from China were up 13% versus a 2.7% gain the previous month. European orders rose 10.8%, and those from Japan dropped 5.2%.
MacDailyNews Take: Strong tech demand powering Taiwan export orders is a silver lining in the COVID-19 cloud for Apple and Apple wannabes.
Made in Taiwan! Go Taiwan, GO!