MANUFACTURING
IEK lowers output forecast
The Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK, 產業經濟與趨勢研究中心) yesterday lowered its forecast for the local manufacturing sector’s production value growth, taking into account trade friction between the US and China. The output of the manufacturing sector is expected to grow 3.27 percent annually to NT$18.89 trillion (US$616.68 billion) this year, the center said. Taiwanese manufacturers should diversify their production bases and keep a close eye on fluctuations on the global foreign exchange market, it said. In April, the center estimated a 3.29 percent output increase by local manufacturers.
OPTICAL
Firms to expand capacity
Catalyzed by a trend toward multiple lenses in smartphones and surging demand for telematics, demand for lenses has soared amid severe undersupply. In response to demand from clients, several local lens makers — Largan Precision Co (大立光), Genius Electronic Optical Co (玉晶光), Newmax Technology Co (新鉅科), Calin Technology Co (佳凌), Glory Science Co Ltd (光燿科) and Ability Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd (先進光) — are expected to substantially expand their capacities, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday, citing industry sources. The overall capacity of local lens makers was forecast to increase 50 percent to 100 percent over the next three years, the newspaper said.
STORAGE
Ritek to trim paid-in capital
Ritek Corp (錸德), the nation’s leading optical disc maker, on Wednesday said that it plans to reduce its paid-in capital by 27.31 percent from NT$17.67 billion to NT$12.84 billion to improve its capital structure and offset accumulated losses. The capital reduction was scheduled to take effect yesterday. Ritek shares yesterday rose 3.36 percent, compared with the broader market’s 0.07 percent decline, and have risen 230.47 percent this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
CHIPMAKERS
Winbond issues bonds
Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子), the world’s third-largest NOR flash memorychip supplier, has issued NT$10 billion of secured ordinary corporate bonds, the nation’s largest bond issuance of its kind this year. The bonds carry a fixed rate of 1 percent per annum and the proceeds would be used to finance capital expenditure, repay bank loans and increase working capital, Winbond said on Tuesday. The company plans to build a new fab in Kaohsiung costing NT$355 billion, as its 12-inch fab in the Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung is expected to reach full production capacity next year.
SOLAR ENERGY
India duty could spur sales
India’s plan to cut imports of Chinese solar cells and modules by imposing a safeguard duty might have the opposite effect in the short term, ICBC International Research Ltd (工銀國際證券) said yesterday. Stockpiles could rise rapidly as Indian developers hoard more modules before the proposal to impose a 25 percent safeguard tariff is expected to take effect in the next two to three months, the firm said in a note. Taiwanese solar cell and module makers would be covered by India’s safeguard duty, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said on Wednesday. Taiwan sold US$92.07 million of solar cells and modules to India last year, only 2.23 percent of the South Asian country’s total imports, the bureau 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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