07-04-2011, 06:35 AM
Continued buying of iPads and iPhones will no doubt boost this sector even further in the years to come...... 
Apr 7, 2011
GLOBAL DEMAND SOARS FOR...
Electronics sector sizzles
Industry grew 27% last year - its best showing in 20 years
By Aaron Low, Economics Correspondent
SINGAPORE'S electronics sector last year posted its fastest growth rate in 20 years, as global demand soared for consumer electronic products such as iPads and smartphones.
The sector chalked up blistering growth of 27 per cent, treble the rate across the global industry, to generate $89.9 billion in output, said the Economic Development Board (EDB) yesterday.
Electronics - a mainstay of the economy since the 1970s - also attracted $5.8 billion in fixed asset investments last year, up 15 per cent from the level in 2009.
Speaking at a briefing yesterday, EDB assistant managing director Yeoh Keat Chuan said the proliferation of electronic devices, such as 3-D TV sets, iPads and electric cars, has boosted demand for electronics manufacturing. 'We were fortunate we built up our capacity and capabilities in past years to take advantage of the strong economic recovery last year.'
The sector contributed about 7 per cent of Singapore's overall economy, up from 5.7 per cent in 2009.
EDB electronics cluster deputy director Chong Joon Woon said a key reason for the stellar showing was restructuring that had occurred in the sector.
For instance, instead of just assembling hard disk drives, Singapore is now making the media inside the hard drives used to record information.
'Singapore now holds 40 per cent of the global market share of the production of the media inside the hard drive, and all top hard disk drive players have research and development centres in Singapore.'
Semiconductor output also sparkled last year, growing by almost 50 per cent, significantly faster than the global industry's growth of 32.5 per cent, Mr Chong said.
Over the longer term, the electronics sector is expected to continue to do well. The EDB said it is trying to attract investments from other types of electronics manufacturers, including bioelectronics and green electronics.
The additional investments will result in 2,600 skilled jobs, said Mr Yeoh, adding that the average annual salary of an electronics worker is $51,600.
'We want to create jobs that Singaporeans aspire to, and these are high-quality jobs that pay well,' he said.
One such worker is Mr Kenneth Yap, 21, who just graduated with a diploma in micro and nanotechnology from Republic Polytechnic. He gets a base salary of between $2,000 and $2,400 for 14 days of work a month as a process technologist, depending on whether he works days or nights. If he puts in another six days of overtime, he can earn up to $3,600, double the average salary of his polytechnic peers of $1,700 a month.
'I put on a clean suit and monitor the chips being manufactured by the robots. All very high-tech. I like the job, it pays well and I am learning,' he said.
Looking ahead, Mr Damian Chan, EDB's director for electronics, said Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami are unlikely to have a big impact on manufacturers in Singapore. While many factories in Japan were shut down and may not restart operations soon, the impact here has been limited to those firms that get their supplies from affected plants in Japan, he said.
'Based on our discussions with companies, they have shared with us that they have enough inventory to last at least the next one to two months. In the meantime, they are exploring how to diversify their supply chain as well.'
aaronl@sph.com.sg
Apr 7, 2011
GLOBAL DEMAND SOARS FOR...
Electronics sector sizzles
Industry grew 27% last year - its best showing in 20 years
By Aaron Low, Economics Correspondent
SINGAPORE'S electronics sector last year posted its fastest growth rate in 20 years, as global demand soared for consumer electronic products such as iPads and smartphones.
The sector chalked up blistering growth of 27 per cent, treble the rate across the global industry, to generate $89.9 billion in output, said the Economic Development Board (EDB) yesterday.
Electronics - a mainstay of the economy since the 1970s - also attracted $5.8 billion in fixed asset investments last year, up 15 per cent from the level in 2009.
Speaking at a briefing yesterday, EDB assistant managing director Yeoh Keat Chuan said the proliferation of electronic devices, such as 3-D TV sets, iPads and electric cars, has boosted demand for electronics manufacturing. 'We were fortunate we built up our capacity and capabilities in past years to take advantage of the strong economic recovery last year.'
The sector contributed about 7 per cent of Singapore's overall economy, up from 5.7 per cent in 2009.
EDB electronics cluster deputy director Chong Joon Woon said a key reason for the stellar showing was restructuring that had occurred in the sector.
For instance, instead of just assembling hard disk drives, Singapore is now making the media inside the hard drives used to record information.
'Singapore now holds 40 per cent of the global market share of the production of the media inside the hard drive, and all top hard disk drive players have research and development centres in Singapore.'
Semiconductor output also sparkled last year, growing by almost 50 per cent, significantly faster than the global industry's growth of 32.5 per cent, Mr Chong said.
Over the longer term, the electronics sector is expected to continue to do well. The EDB said it is trying to attract investments from other types of electronics manufacturers, including bioelectronics and green electronics.
The additional investments will result in 2,600 skilled jobs, said Mr Yeoh, adding that the average annual salary of an electronics worker is $51,600.
'We want to create jobs that Singaporeans aspire to, and these are high-quality jobs that pay well,' he said.
One such worker is Mr Kenneth Yap, 21, who just graduated with a diploma in micro and nanotechnology from Republic Polytechnic. He gets a base salary of between $2,000 and $2,400 for 14 days of work a month as a process technologist, depending on whether he works days or nights. If he puts in another six days of overtime, he can earn up to $3,600, double the average salary of his polytechnic peers of $1,700 a month.
'I put on a clean suit and monitor the chips being manufactured by the robots. All very high-tech. I like the job, it pays well and I am learning,' he said.
Looking ahead, Mr Damian Chan, EDB's director for electronics, said Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami are unlikely to have a big impact on manufacturers in Singapore. While many factories in Japan were shut down and may not restart operations soon, the impact here has been limited to those firms that get their supplies from affected plants in Japan, he said.
'Based on our discussions with companies, they have shared with us that they have enough inventory to last at least the next one to two months. In the meantime, they are exploring how to diversify their supply chain as well.'
aaronl@sph.com.sg