Chi Mei Optoelectronics Co (奇美電子), the nation’s second-biggest liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker, said yesterday it had suspended plans to start mass production of large-size TV screens at a new advanced fab, citing a gloomy market outlook.
The Tainan-based panel maker said in October it planned to start shipping 50-inch or larger TV panels from an 8.5-generation (8.5G) plant in the second half of this year.
“The company has started moving in equipment for the 8.5G fab. However, as the market outlook is unclear, the company will set a new schedule for mass production depending on market demand,” Chi Mei said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Chi Mei had said earlier that it expected falling prices to boost demand for LCD TVs with screens bigger than 40 inches.
Chi Mei’s filing confirmed a report by the Chinese-language Commercial Times that it had postponed the production ramp up of the 8.5G factory.
Chi Mei could see losses widen to NT$20.34 billion (US$605 million) in the fourth quarter of last year, while its bigger rival, AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), could swing into losses of NT$24.8 billion in the same period as panel prices plunge on contracting demand, Citigroup said in a report.
Shares of Chi Mei and AUO fell 0.49 percent and 2.12 percent to NT$10.1 and NT$23.05 respectively.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
GREAT SUCCESS: Republican Senator Todd Young expressed surprise at Trump’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running US lawmakers who helped secure billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to revoke the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signaling that any repeal effort in the US Congress would fall short. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the law, on Wednesday said that Trump’s demand would fail, while a top Republican proponent, US Senator Todd Young, expressed surprise at the president’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running. The CHIPS Act is “essential for America leading the world in tech, leading the world in AI [artificial
REACTIONS: While most analysts were positive about TSMC’s investment, one said the US expansion could disrupt the company’s supply-demand balance Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) new US$100 billion investment in the US would exert a positive effect on the chipmaker’s revenue in the medium term on the back of booming artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from US chip designers, an International Data Corp (IDC) analyst said yesterday. “This is good for TSMC in terms of business expansion, as its major clients for advanced chips are US chip designers,” IDC senior semiconductor research manager Galen Zeng (曾冠瑋) said by telephone yesterday. “Besides, those US companies all consider supply chain resilience a business imperative,” Zeng said. That meant local supply would
RSS