CHEMICALS
Swancor reports a net loss
Materials manufacturer and wind farm developer Swancor Holding Co Ltd (上緯) yesterday reported a net loss of NT$6 million (US$201,626) for last month, down 109 percent from a year earlier, with net losses per share of NT$0.07. However, revenue rose 32 percent year-on-year to NT$487 million, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. In the first quarter, net losses expanded to NT$42 million, or net losses per share of NT$0.47, while total revenue rose 22.63 percent to NT$1.15 billion, the filing showed. The market regulator requested that Swancor disclose its latest financial figures amid stock price fluctuations and after it closed down by the daily limit at NT$136 yesterday.
SEMICONDUCTORS
WPG net income rises 2.4%
Semiconductor component distributor WPG Holdings Co (大聯大) yesterday reported that net income last quarter improved 2.4 percent quarterly to NT$1.89 billion, with earnings per share of NT$1.04. First-quarter sales rose 3.62 percent annually to NT$123.41 billion, the company said, citing growing shipments of computer, consumer electronics, communications, cloud services and automotive-related components. The company also unveiled its guidance for this quarter, forecasting that sales would reach between NT$127 billion and NT$140 billion, while operating margin would be between 1.85 and 1.98 percent, compared with 1.95 percent last quarter.
GAMING
Gamania gross margin rises
Online game publisher Gamania Digital Entertainment Co (遊戲橘子) yesterday said rising sales and an improving product mix helped increased its gross margin 7 percentage points from a year earlier to 25 percent for the first quarter. Net profit for the period surged 664 percent to NT$408 million, with earnings per share of NT$2.41, the company said. First-quarter revenue rose 119 percent to NT$4.86 billion, which the firm attributed to the growing popularity of its biggest online game, Lineage M. Gamania said contribution from Lineage M and game points distribution subsidiary Gash Co Ltd (樂點) would be major growth drivers for this quarter.
MANUFACTURING
Ichia revenue falls 6 percent
Handset keypad maker Ichia Technologies Inc (毅嘉科技) yesterday posted revenue of NT$580 million for last month, down 6 percent from March, due to a shortage of raw materials. On an annual basis, revenue rose 12 percent, it said. Last month’s revenue included about NT$457 million in sales of flexible printed circuit integrated components and about NT$125 million from mechanical integrated components, Ichia said in a filing with the stock exchange. Cumulative revenue for the first four months of the year expanded 9 percent year-on-year to NT$2.17 billion, it said.
CHIPMAKERS
TSMC fab starts operations
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) 12-inch fab in Nanjing, China, has officially started mass production and is ready for shipments of chips using its 16-nanometer process in the near term, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported, citing industry sources. The world’s largest contract chipmaker held a ground-breaking ceremony for the plant on July 7, 2016. The Nanjing facility’s first shipment was delivered to Beijing-based Bitmain Technologies Ltd (比特大陸), the world’s largest bitcoin mining organization, the newspaper said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
A TAIWAN DEAL: TSMC is in early talks to fully operate Intel’s US semiconductor factories in a deal first raised by Trump officials, but Intel’s interest is uncertain Broadcom Inc has had informal talks with its advisers about making a bid for Intel Corp’s chip-design and marketing business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nothing has been submitted to Intel and Broadcom could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the Journal. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in early talks for a controlling stake in Intel’s factories at the request of officials at US President Donald Trump’s administration, as the president looks to boost US manufacturing and maintain the country’s leadership in critical technologies. Trump officials raised the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
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