FALLING REVENUE:The Ministry of Economic Affairs said that domestic sales took a hit due to less orders of PC-related products and a decrease in orders from Japan

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 24, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

The nation’s industrial production index plunged 5.46 percent to 104.47 points last month from a year earlier, following a 2.99 percent annual decline reported in July, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

“The size of the annual decline was larger than the ministry expected and marks the biggest annual drop in industrial production since March 2013,” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Yang Kuei-hsien (楊貴顯) told a news conference.

“One of the main reasons that caused the decline in output was slower-than-expected inventory digestion in the semiconductor industry,” Yang said.

Yang said the launch of Apple Inc’s iPhone 6S significantly boosted the output of optical module products last month, but rendered limited benefit to the semiconductor industry due to high inventory levels.     [FULL  STORY]