Taiwan’s smartphone makers continued to feel the pinch after local market shipments in the third quarter fell more than 3 percent from a year earlier, US-based International Data Corp (IDC) said on Thursday.
Weakening demand resulting from consumers postponing replacing their phones led to Taiwan’s smartphone shipments falling 3.1 percent from a year earlier to 1.26 million units in the July-September period. This drop follows a 4.6 percent year-on-year decline in the second quarter, when shipments stood at 1.05 million units, IDC said in a statement.
However, the average selling price of smartphones in the third quarter rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier, indicating that Taiwanese smartphone manufacturers were keen to focus on producing high and medium-end devices with a higher price tag to strengthen their competitive edge in the market, IDC said.
Photo: CNA
In the third quarter, shipments of electronic wearable devices in Taiwan totaled 1.25 million units, up 2.4 percent from a year earlier, with shipments of smartwatches growing 10.2 percent from a year earlier to 300,000, it said.
Earbud shipments in Taiwan fell 2.9 percent to 770,000 units in the third quarter from a year earlier, with shipments of devices using true wireless stereo technology accounting for 92.1 percent of total earbud shipments.
The earbud segment was affected by falling consumer consumption, while demand for earwear related to smartphones also weakened, dealing a blow to the entire earbud industry, IDC said.
The smartphone market in Taiwan would continue to weaken in the wake of unfavorable economic conditions and the slow replacement of devices by consumers, with shipments next year expected to fall 2.3 percent year-on-year to 4.86 million units, IDC Taiwan associate analyst Joanne Chiang (江靖婷) said.
Due to changing foreign exchange rates, increasing costs and a continued focus on mid-range and high-end products, the average selling price is expected to grow 2.2 percent next year, she said.
Chiang also predicted shipments of wearable devices in Taiwan would grow 1.1 percent to 3.84 million units next year, with smartwatch shipments expected to rise 4.7 percent from a year earlier to 950,000 units next year.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS