38% of global electronics output now produced in Asia Pacific

Oxford, UK, June 2006

Electronics output in the Asia Pacific increased to 38% of the global total in 2005 according to the latest figures from Reed Electronics Research’s Yearbook of World Electronics Data. This compared to only 20% in 1995. More importantly during this period China ’s share of global electronics has increased from 3% to 16%.

Despite the rapid growth of China other countries in the region also play an important role in the global electronics industry. South Korea , Malaysia , Singapore and Thailand are all ranked in the top 10 countries globally in terms of production. In particular, South Korean and Taiwanese companies have established a major presence within the global electronics industry. In other countries such as Singapore and Malaysia companies, with significant government support, are looking to focus on higher value products and move away from low-cost assembly.

Other findings include:

- Thailand , Indonesia and the Philippines will continue to attract foreign investment. This is in part due to low-costs but also large domestic markets and the move by some companies to spread risk and invest outside of China .

- Although further investment in infrastructure and the development of a component supplier base is still required, India offers significant potential and will be one of the fastest growing electronics markets in Asia and globally with electronics output expected to reach over US$35 billion in 2010 up from an estimated US$10.8 billion in 2005.

Source: Yearbook of World Electronics Data

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