Hon Hai Precision Industries Co. has for the fourth year in a row taken the honor as Taiwan’s No. 1 private manufacturer in terms of sales, according to a 2004 survey of Taiwan’s 1,000 enterprises released by CommonWealth Magazine yesterday.

Last year’s top ten companies in the manufacturing sector, as ranked by the survey, were: Chinese Petroleum Corp., Hon Hai, Formosa Petrochemical Co., Quanta Computer Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Compal Electronics Inc., China Steel Corp., Nan Ya Plastics Corp., AU Optronics Corp. and Lite-On Corp.

Hon Hai, with 2004 sales of NT$413.352 billion, was Taiwan’s largest private manufacturer, trailing behind Chinese Petroleum, the No. 1 company, by some NT$150 billion.

AU Optronics and Lite-On for the first time made it to the top-ten list, pushing out former No. 9 and No. 10 winners, BenQ Corp. and Formosa Chemicals & Fiber Corp.

As for the service industry, the top ten companies were: Taiwan Power Co., Chunghwa Telecom, Samsung Taiwan, Acer Inc., China Airlines, EVA Air, Uni-President, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp., Hotai Motor Co. and Synnex.

The top four companies stayed at the same places, while China Airlines, EVA Air, Yang Ming and Hotai advanced to higher rankings. Uni-President fell from No. 5 to No. 7, while Synnex fell from No. 7 to No. 10.

As for the banking industry, the top ten companies were: Cathay Financial Holding, Bureau of National Health Insurance, Chunghwa Post Co., Nan Shan Life Insurance Co., Shin Kong Financial Holding, Bureau of Labor Insurance, Fubon Financial Holding, ING Antai, Maga Holding and Central Trust of China.