Taiwan produced more than half the world's computer monitors in 1997 and expects to maintain its leading position in the market next year.

The Institute for Information Industry said Taiwanese companies made 40 million monitors this year, accounting for 53% of the total number sold.

This represents a 16% rise increase from the previous year in the number of Taiwanese monitors produced.

The economic troubles in South Korea, Taiwan's traditional rival in the computer screen market, means it is likely to continue to dominate the market in 1998, the institute said.

Taiwanese companies make monitors at many factories both at home and abroad.

Taiwan is also the world's second largest maker of notebook computers, the institute said.

It made about 4.6 million notebooks this year, while Japan pumped out about 5.25 million of the handheld computers.

The devaluation of the Japanese yen has made it cheaper for companies such as Toshiba to make notebooks in Japan rather than contract the work out to Taiwan.

The institute also said the price of notebook computers is likely to fall in the coming year because of increased mass production of a key component, Liquid Crystal Display.
 

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