Taiwan posted a 3% year-over-year gain in industrial production. Leading the charge was production of integrated circuits and LCD panels, which account for 25% of industrial production, according to Barclays. Analysts at the bank think the uptick in electronics production has room to run. They write:
We believe the recent recovery in electronic parts output will broaden to final [information technology] products in Q4. With the release of the Windows 8 operating system in late October, various handset, tablet and PC/notebook producers will be launching a new generation of products/models during the holiday season. For example, Taiwan’s HTC will be launching the HTC 8 series (which it bills as “one of the first Windows 8 devices”) from November, through more than 150 carriers in 50 countries. US electronics retail sales in September were robust (+4.5% [month-over-month, seasonally adjusted] vs. flat growth in Jan.-Aug.) on account of the release of Apple’s iPhone 5, and this could reassure Asian producers about the strength of Christmas demand in the advanced economies.