Disk drive market heating up?
From Yahoo:
Monday November 26, 10:31 am Eastern Time
Singapore Manufacturing Output Drops
Singapore's Manufacturing Output Falls 21.4 Percent in October
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Manufacturing output in recession-hit Singapore fell 21.4 percent in October compared with a year ago amid slack demand for electronics, the government said Monday.
The 21.4 percent decline followed a 22.1 percent fall in September, the Economic Development Board said in a statement.
October production was marginally better than some analysts expected, with DBS Bank forecasting a 22.5 percent decline and JPMorgan Chase predicting a 23 percent fall. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi had foreseen a 15 percent to 19 percent fall.
Electronics production in October fell 36 percent from a year ago compared with a 34.8 percent drop in September, as the slump in global demand persisted.
In the nine months ended Oct. 31, Singapore's industrial production fell 10.3 percent compared with the year-ago period, the board said.
October's fall in overall manufacturing marks the seventh consecutive month of decline.
Aside from sluggish world demand for computer chips, the contraction in electronics output also reflected the impact of the slowdown in major economies and the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, the statement said.
Output of semiconductors sank 53.6 percent, while that of information and communication products plunged 48.1 percent.
However, output of data storage equipment, which includes disk drives for personal computers, leapt 37.4 percent, as local disk drive manufacturers churned out products with new designs, the board said.
The EDB's monthly index of industrial production covers all manufacturing activities except rubber processing and granite quarrying. |
