Compal Electronics Inc (
Compal will buy 26.6 million shares at NT$37 per share for a 69 percent stake in Arcadyan Technology Corp (
The deal was approved by the two companies' boards of directors yesterday.
"Compal will be able to create a complete wireless communications business by integrating resources with Arcadyan," the statement said.
The new business will move into the areas of digital multimedia home applications and dual-mode phones by utilizing Arcadyan's Internet protocol technology, Compal said.
It is now commonplace for laptops to have built-in wireless communications features, resulting in increased collaboration between notebook computer vendors and wireless technology companies, according to the statement.
The partnership would ensure ample wireless module supplies for laptop computer makers, while at the same time helping the firm to enlarge its client base and introduce new products, Compal said.
Compal will reduce its holding in Arcadyan to 60 percent after distributing shares to employees, with the remaining shares to be held by Accton. Arcadyan will probably hold an initial public offering within two years, the companies said.
Ray Chen (
Although the company projected a rosy outlook for its notebook shipments in the second half of the year, its gross margin in the second quarter dipped below 5 percent for the first time to 4.7 percent, compared with 6.2 percent a year ago.
Chen said on April 26 that Compal would leverage mergers and acquisitions to move into new areas such as wireless communications, digital home entertainment, automotive electronics and portable media devices.
"Our product diversification is still in its infancy ... without major mergers, this segment will probably contribute a single-digit percentage to our revenues this year," he said at the time.
Currently, notebook computers account for 90 percent of Compal's sales, with the remainder contributed by non-core business such as liquid-crystal-display televisions and monitors, wireless products and portable media players.
The firm said earlier this month it expected its non-notebook segments to account for 20 percent of total sales by 2008.
Compal reported profit of NT$8.42 billion on sales of NT$266 billion last year, while Accton Technology posted a loss of NT$302 million last year on sales of NT$18.3 billion.
Shares of Compal closed down 0.2 percent to close at NT$27.95 yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, while shares of Accton were up 1.7 percent to NT$18.2.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
STIMULUS PLANS: An official said that China would increase funding from special treasury bonds and expand another program focused on key strategic sectors China is to sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives, a state planner official told a news conference yesterday, as Beijing cranks up fiscal stimulus to revitalize its faltering economy. Special treasury bonds would be used to fund large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, said Yuan Da (袁達), deputy secretary-general of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. “The size of ultra-long special government bond funds will be sharply increased this year to intensify and expand the implementation of the two new initiatives,” Yuan said. Under the program launched last year, consumers can
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump. The annual Consumer Electronics Show opens formally in Las Vegas tomorrow, but preceding days are packed with product announcements. AI would be a major theme of the show, along with autonomous vehicles ranging from tractors and boats to lawn mowers and golf club trollies. “Everybody is going to be talking about AI,” Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said. “From fridges to ovens
RSS