THE ‘WEAK SEASON’: Electronics orders were down a ‘mild’ 1.3 percent last month, while optoelectronics fell 18.8 percent and might drop further due to virus disruptions

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 21, 2020
By: Natasha Li  /  Staff reporter

Export orders last month dropped by 12.8 percent to US$35.31 billion, the biggest annual decline in seven years, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday, blaming the decrease to slipping orders for information and communications technology (ICT) products.

Following a short-lived recovery in December last year, export orders for ICT products contracted last month by 17 percent year-on-year to US$9.7 billion due to declining orders of smartphones, laptops and servers.

“We also have to take into account that there were six fewer working days last month [than in January last year] due to the Lunar New Year holiday,” Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) told a news conference in Taipei.

As more than 90 percent of ICT products are produced overseas, mainly in China, the COVID-19 outbreak might further affect production and undercut orders this month, she said. 
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