Philippine electronics exports may bottom out in Q1

MANILA, Feb 10 - Exports of Philippine electronics are likely to bottom out in the first quarter after posting its steepest drop on record in December, the head of an industry group said on Tuesday.

Customer inventories are beginning to dry up such that some demand may start to come back in the second quarter, Arthur Young, chairman of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc, told Reuters.

"I think Q1 will be bottom and I think you'll start seeing slightly better numbers by Q2," Young said.

"We think that you will start seeing a pick up in orders in quarter two and in quarter three, that is what we are anticipating," he said, adding customers were close to depleting their inventory following drops in demand for personal computers and mobile phones which use memory chips. Philippine exports plunged 40.4 percent in December, the steepest fall in over two decades, with shipments of key electronics products contracting 47.6 percent in December from a year ago.

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