TAIPEI: Sales of the local information service sector are expected to hit a new high in 2017 on the back of a wider range of applications in the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, e-commerce and big data, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Monday. The MOEA said that revenue generated by the local information service sector is estimated to reach about NT$270 billion (US$8.94 billion), up from the latest record level of NT$265.8 billion seen in 2016.
According to the MOEA, demand for information services from enterprises has been on the rise at a time when the IoT and other technologies are weighing more and more on Taiwan’s economy.
The MOEA said that the raised awareness of information security, and an increase of licensing fees for mobile gaming software, also paved the way for gains in revenue for the sector. As a result, the local information service sector has witnessed its sales momentum picking up in recent years, the MOEA said. During the period of 2007-2016, sales in the sector grew at an average of 4.1 percent each year, and in 2016, it grew 4.2 percent, the highest since the 6-percent growth recorded in 2010.
The uptrend in momentum in the sector is expected to continue into this year to create another record high in sales, the MOEA said.
In the first quarter of this year, the sector posted NT$63 billion in sales, up 1.3 percent from a year earlier, with revenue generated by the data processing and data supply segment up 6.8 percent from a year earlier at NT$11.7 billion, the MOEA data shows.
Growth in computer system integration and the computer software design segment appeared mild in the January-March period, with revenue up only 0.1 percent at NT$51.3 billion, the statistics indicate.
Before the first quarter’s slight year-on-year gains in sales, however, the segment scored a 5.5 percent in year-on-year revenue growth in 2016, the highest level since 2010, when the increase also stood at 5.5 percent, according to the data.
R&D spending in the sector in 2015 totaled NT$11.8 billion, up 6.6 percent from a year earlier, the MOEA said. Compared with 2007, the 2016 R&D expenses almost doubled, rising about NT$5.4 billion.
In 2016, the average operating margin — the difference between sales and the cost of goods sold as well as operating expenses — of information service firms listed on the local equity market hit 8.4 percent, up 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier, the MOEA added.
