ENCOURAGING:Improved demand for smartphones and 4G handset chips in emerging markets was the main stimulus, with notebook demand from Europe also contributing

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 21, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

The nation’s export orders contracted 5.8 percent year-on-year to US$33.73 billion last month, less than the government’s estimated fall of 7 percent, due to a pickup in demand for smartphones and notebooks, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The figure marks the 14th consecutive month of falls, but the pace eased from April’s 11.1 percent fall.

On a monthly basis, export orders expanded 1.7 percent from NT$33.16 billion (US$1.03 billion) in April, the data showed.

“The increasing demand for smartphones and 4G handset chips in emerging markets was the main stimulus,” ministry Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) said at a news conference.     [FULL  STORY]