Although Taiwan's opto-electronics production value rose only a moderate 10.7% in 2001, lower that its pace in previous years, the growth was good in comparison with Taiwan's other industries.

The Taiwan Electrical and Electronics Manufacturer's Association (TEEMA) traces this expansion during a worldwide economic slowdown to the relatively high growth of Taiwan's CDsRW drive and digital camera segments, as well as the production of TFT-LCDs and opto-communications passive devices.

Nearly half of the island's opto-electronics production value comes from the opto-information segment, which comprises opto-storage, opto-input ad opto-output devices. According to the association. Behind the fact is the widespread usage of the Internet and the brisk growth of the multimedia industry.

In 2001, the top 10 segments of Taiwan's opto-electronics industry, by value, were TFT-LCDs, CD-Rs. Read-only memory compact disk drives, super twisted nematic LCDs (STN-LCDs), rewriteable compact disk (CD-RW) drives, scanners, digital cameras, overhead projectors, LEDs, and read-only-memory digital video disk players.

In the opto-input segment, high-definition digital cameras have replaced scannrs. Many of Taiwan's digital camera manufacturers have shifted to production of cameras with a resolution better than 1.3 MegaPixels.

Taiwan's opto-communications productions production is forecast to rise 43% this year. Last year the figure constituted just 1.13% of the total global turnover.

In related news, the Industrial Technology Information Service (ITIS) earlier issued a forecast indicating that Taiwan's opto-communications industry will report an compound annual growth rate of 58% over the next five years, much higher than the projected 25% for the global industry. (ITIS is Taiwan government-backed industrial service program)

ITIS' research fellows predict a 2002 growth of 27.6% from 2001 to US$417.64 million despite the global business downturn. ITIS says that the thin film filter and transceiver sectors will become the major force in the industry's growth this year.

Nevertheless, as Taiwan's opto-communication industry presently represents only 1.13% of world production value, this suggests ample room for growth.

Foreign buyer should keep an eye on Taiwan - - ITIS estimates that the opto-electronic industry will likely grow 43% next year as many domestic manufacturers will begin commercial production of new products.