TPK Holding Co Ltd (宸鴻) yesterday said it had signed an agreement with Japan’s Nissha Printing Co Ltd to form a strategic partnership in an effort to accelerate its entry into the mid-range touch-panel market.
TPK’s announcement came as it is facing mounting pressure from industry changes as demand shifts to medium-range and low-cost smartphones and tablets from high-end models, and competition intensifies.
TPK counts Apple Inc as its top touch panel client.
Nissha Printing will invest US$6.25 million for a 25 percent stake in TPK’s touch-panel subsidiary, TPK Film Solutions Ltd, which is developing next-generation silver nanowire technology to make low-cost touch screens for smartphones and tablets.
TPK will hold a 65 percent stake in TPK Film after injects NT$4 million (US$135,400) in new capital into the subsidiary, while Sunnyvale, California-based Cambrios Technologies Corp will own 10 percent.
“TPK has been focusing on developing high-end glass touch panels, this partnership with Nissha Printing will help us broaden our product portfolio and tap into middle-range film touch panel area,” chief financial executive Freddie Liu (劉詩亮) told a teleconference.
“The new 5-inch, or 6-inch silver nanowire touch screens will be very [cost] competitive,” Liu sad.
The new nano silverwire technology will help clients lower their costs by 10 percent to 20 percent if they switch to the new touch screens from existing ITO glass touch panels, TPK said.
Liu said the new touch panels will help it secure more orders from China without scarifying gross margin. Gross margin for silver nanowire touch panels will approach to TPK’s corporate average figure.
Last year, TPK’s gross margin stood at 17.05 percent.
TPK chief executive David Sun (孫大明) said in August that the company was facing a new challenge resulting from the proliferation of low-cost mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
The company, aiming to recoup lost market share of handset touch screens, has been concentrating on developing low-cost one-glass-solution touch panels for notebook computers, but demand for touch-enabled laptops fell short of expectation.
TPK Film will ramp up production of silver nanowire touch panels in the second quarter next year, with a monthly capacity of 2 million units of 6-inch silver nanowire touch panels.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
CHANGE OF FORTUNES: Concern over a pricey valuation and the risk of tighter US curbs on chip sales to China have poured cold water on TSMC’s bullish momentum Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares fell the most in three months yesterday upon trading resumption, joining a global technology rout as investors dramatically soured on the promises of artificial intelligence (AI). The shares declined 5.62 percent to close at NT$924 in Taipei, dragging down the benchmark TAIEX, which fell 3.29 percent to 22,119.21 points amid a technical correction, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Other chip stocks also fell, with ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) plunging 9.86 percent, MediaTek Inc (聯發科) dropping 2.35 percent, Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱) falling 1.33 percent and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) retreating 1.17 percent, while Apple