Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/14
By: Liao Yu-yang and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 14 (CNA) Taiwan’s manufacturing sector posted year-on-year sales growth for a fifth consecutive quarter in the final quarter of 2017, bolstered by continuing improvement in the global economy, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Taiwanese manufacturers had combined sales of NT$7.53 trillion (US$258 billion) in the fourth quarter of last year, up 6.2 percent from a year earlier, MOEA data showed.

The increase during the October-December period came after electronics component and optoelectronics firms saw their sales hit a quarterly high of NT$2.94 trillion, up 9.4 percent year-on-year, as global electronics brands launched new devices, the MOEA said.

Many Taiwanese tech firms serve as contractors for these foreign brands, and they benefited from consumer replacements of older models during the period, the MOEA said.
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