DGBAS’ VIEW:Redesigns to Apple Inc’s iPhone series in time for its 10th anniversary later this year are fueling expectations of massive replacement demand, an official said

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 16, 2017
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The government yesterday upgraded its forecast for the nation’s GDP growth this year to 1.92 percent, from the 1.87 percent it predicted three months earlier, saying that an improving global economic environment and stable crude oil prices might boost exports.

The upward revision came after the economy expanded 2.88 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, raising GDP growth to 1.5 percent for the whole of last year, 0.1 percentage points higher than the government’s estimate.

“The global economy is likely to grow slightly faster than predicted in the last forecast, which is favorable for local firms in the supply chain of global technology giants,” Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民) told a news conference in Taipei.

Taiwan is home to the world’s largest contract chipmakers and chip designers, as well as suppliers of camera lenses, batteries and other critical components used in smartphones, PCs, connected vehicles and Internet of Things applications.
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