Taiwan is the world's largest producer of notebook computers with a global market share of 61 percent last year and it sold a record 5.14 million units in the three months to March. This was up 23 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Institute for Information Industry (III).

The value of the sales rose six percent to 3.55 billion US dollars, the data showed.

"Demand for notebook computers has been boosted after new products hit the market, such as models equipped with 15-inch monitors," an III official said.

"The demand is expected to continue to grow in the second quarter, driven by Intel's new mobile communication platform Centrino," he added.

Taiwan sold 10.52 million mobile phones in the first quarter, up 138 percent from a year earlier and sales value rose 144.3 percent to 736.4 million dollars.

"The high growth in the mobile phone sector mainly reflected the expanded market for more advanced models," the official said.

Sales volume of Taiwanese-made desktop personal computers (PCs) in the first three months rose 11.4 percent to 6.18 million units, while the sales value grew 9.9 percent to 1.71 billion dollars due to a recovery in the global PC industry, the III data showed.

Motherboard sales volume in the same period grew 7.2 percent to 23.23 million units, but the value fell 3.5 percent to 1.41 billion dollars due to price competition.

Server volumes rose 13.4 percent to 410,500 units and value was up 8.7 percent at 361 million dollars in the first three months.

SPACE.WIRE