OUTLIER:The Ministry of Economic Affairs attributed a drop in computer electronics and optical goods production to a local smartphone maker, which it declined to name

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 24, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

The nation’s industrial production index rose by a better-than-expected 8.83 percent annually to 111.27 last month, driven mainly by the production of electronics components related to Apple Inc’s iPhone 7 sales, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The growth not only exceeded the ministry’s estimate of 5 percent, but also marked the fifth straight month of annual increase, the ministry’s data showed.

However, industrial output in the first 11 months of this year rose a mild 0.95 percent from the same period last year, the data showed.

Manufacturing output, which accounted for more than 90 percent of industrial production, last month jumped 10.36 percent year-on-year, the largest increase since October 2014, the ministry’s data showed.    [FULL  STORY]