Taiwanese firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd 2330.TW, TSM.N, are major suppliers to Apple Inc AAPL.O, Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O and other global tech companies. The island's export orders, a bellwether for global technology demand, contracted 25.7% from a year earlier to $46.58 billion, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Thursday. "The contraction was due to the global economic slowdown triggered by inflation and interest rate hikes, weak end demand, and continued inventory digestion by customers," the ministry said.