Computex The Computex trade show formally opened for business yesterday, with the organisers claiming a record number of exhibitors. The show organisers are claiming that there are 815 local exhibitors and 97 foreign visitors, exhibiting in 11 separate product categories over 1,922 booths. According to figures from the Taiwanese Market Intelligence Centre, Taiwan's IT business managed to show growth of 11.5 per cent in 1998, with total production value amounting to nearly $39.7 billion. The hardware sector account for 85.2 per cent of this business, with a value of $33.78 billion, software represents 5.5 per cent, networking 4.3 and communications 5 per cent of the total manufacturing worth. According to the figures, that makes Taiwan the third biggest producer of IT kit in the world, after the US and Japan. Singapore is foruth, the UK fifth, China sixth and Germany seventh. Despite the Asian economic crisis, favourable factors for this year include Intel's introduction of the Pentium III and the Y2K effect. That means, according to officials, that the total market will grow by nearly 15 per cent in 1999, worth an estimated $45.8 billion. ®