Taipei, Dec. 2, 2008 (CENS)--The global financial tsunami has severely caused sales revenues of optoelectronics and semiconductor suppliers in Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) to drop for the first time since the inception of the park, according to CTSP Administration officials.

CTSP has posted aggregate revenues of NT$265.6 billion for the first 10 months of this year, up 25% from a year earlier, but the revenues apparently slowed down in the recent few months. Hence, CTSP Administration projects the revenue figure to hit about NT$300 billion for entire the year, failing to achieve its original projection of NT$360 billion.

One key factor behind the growth slowdown of CTSP`s revenue lies in sales declines in the optoelectronics sector in the park, of which combined sales revenue for September and October dropped by over 20% from the corresponding figures posted in 2006. Major optoelectronics suppliers in the park presently include AU Optronics Corp., Corning Inc., Nitto Denko Optical Co., Ltd. and JSR Corp.

Also, semiconductor manufacturers in CTSP, such as ProMOS Technologies Inc., Rexchip Electronics Co. and Winbond Electronics Corp., whose main business is associated with DRAM memory, have seen their total sales revenues for the two months regress about 21% from the corresponding figures for July and August, due partly to shrinking demand for DRAM and partly to price drops of the products, according to CTSP Administration.

In contrast, precision machinery suppliers in CTSP posted a strong growth of 25% in combined revenues for September and October, while LED (light emitting diode) and solar cell makers also registered a growth rate of 27% and 18%, respectively.

So far, more than 90 companies have been approved to operate in CTSP, together investing a total of over NT$1.7 trillion in the park. Over the past five years, total sales revenue generated from these companies shot up to NT$265.7 billion in 2007 from NT$178.5 billion posted in 2006. In 2005, the figure stood at only NT$60.9 billion.
(by Steve Chuang)