Total output by Taiwan's computer manufacturing sector reached NT$321.5 billion (US$10.54 billion) in 2022, the highest level since 2003, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Monday.
The MOEA attributed last year's strong performance to easing component shortages, as well as emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence and cloud computing driving up demand in related industrial supply chains.
Servers, which accounted for a 60.3-percent share of the computer manufacturing sector in 2022, performed best with an output of NT$194 billion.
This marked a 59.9 percent year-on-year increase in output, and came off the back of growing orders received by Taiwanese manufacturers for cloud computing services in the United States, the ministry said.
Huang Wei-chieh (黃偉傑), deputy director of the MOEA's Department of Statistics, said the demand for remote processing came primarily from American companies, such as Facebook, Amazon and Google.
However, due to the ongoing U.S.-China trade war and information security considerations, Huang said many of their orders have gradually shifted away from China, prompting a substantial increase in the demand for servers by Taiwan-based manufacturers.
Meanwhile, portable computers accounted for a 22.5-percent share of the sector in 2022, with an output of NT$72.4 billion, up 25.8 percent compared with 2021.
This was followed by industrial computers at NT$50.1 billion, an annual increase of 45.3 percent and comprising 15.6 percent of the overall sector.
The MOEA attributed the sharp year-on-year growth for industrial computers to strong demand in the industrial IoT and medical application sectors, as well as retailers undertaking digital transformation.
The MOEA also noted that in the first three months of 2023, the United States accounted for Taiwan's largest computer export market at 65.6 percent, followed by China (including Hong Kong) at 5.8 percent, and the Netherlands at 5.4 percent.
