Remaining chip smart
Despite setbacks, Singapore's electronics industry still remains a vital cog in the global supply chain.
SINGAPORE'S latest trade figures are fairly lacklustre. The key measure (non-oil domestic exports, or NODX) rose barely one per cent in September, pulled down by flagging electronics exports, which shrank 4 per cent year-on-year on the back of lower shipments of PC parts, integrated circuits and disk drives. The electronics sector, which accounts for one-third of Singapore's manufacturing exports, has seen decline for 26 straight months. Shipments of electronic products have fallen 11 per cent so far this year, dragging down overall NODX which has shrunk 1.1 per cent to date.
The rather dismal data begs the question: Is Singapore's electronics and semiconductor cluster terminally ill or just going through a bad phase due to internal restructuring and bad global economic conditions?
A little review of the history may offer some clues. For more than 30 years, the electronics and semiconductor manufacturing cluster has played a vital role in Singapore's growth.
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