February 5, 1998 (TAIPEI) -- The Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park Administration reports that during the first eleven months of 1997, the production value of the wafer foundry industry was the highest of all sectors in the park.

In November, the production value of wafer foundry companies exceeded NT$7.55 billion (US$228 million), outpacing that of the second-ranked DRAM makers by 80 percent, and marking growth of more than 100 percent from the same month in 1996.

These numbers indicate that the Korean financial tempest has generated limited impact on Taiwan's technology sector. Sources in the industry attribute this to the fact that memory chips and monitors are the only two types of high-tech products in which the two nations are highly competitive.

A park administration official said that November is generally the peak season for sales of high-tech electronic products.

November 1997, the Hsinchu Science Park reported a production value of NT$39.5 billion, up a sharp 58.1 percent from the same time in 1996. This marks a record monthly high, and the largest growth rate seen over the past two years. Wafer foundry accounted for 20 percent of the total production value.

Products which reported record monthly highs in production value in November of 1997 include wafers, color image scanners, and digital application-specific integrated circuits. Products that registered outstanding growth from the same month in 1996 include multi-layer printed circuit boards, up 328.57 percent; color image scanners, up 168.79 percent; and wafer foundry, up 98.74 percent.

(Commercial Times, Taiwan)