Ethernet switch maker Accton Technology Corp (智邦科技) yesterday said that US trade sanctions on Huawei Technologies Co’s (華為) 5G network equipment would not slow down global 5G commercial launches, given limited adoption of Huawei equipment before the US-China trade dispute.
“Worldwide 5G deployment remains on track, as only one or two telecom operators were affected [by the US sanctions]. We do not expect any delays,” Accton president Lee Chih-chiang (李志強) told Unique Satellite TV on the sidelines of a company shareholders’ meeting yesterday.
Japanese telecom operators bought 5G networking equipment from established equipment suppliers, while only a handful of telecom operators in other regions opted for Huawei’s 5G equipment, the TV channel quoted Lee as saying.
Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei Times
“We are cautiously monitoring how the US-China trade tensions play out, though,” Lee said.
To minimize the trade dispute’s potential effects, Accton is accelerating its capacity expansion in Taiwan, Lee said.
The company plans to ramp up five new production lines in Miaoli County’s Jhunan Township (竹南) in the third quarter, he said.
“We plan to hire 700 more people this year,” Lee added.
Together with the three existing production lines at its Hsinchu plant, Accton expects capacity from its local operations to make up half of its total capacity, with Chinese plants making up the remainder, Unique Satellite TV reported.
Taiwan is expected to outpace China as Accton’s biggest manufacturing base next year by contributing 60 percent capacity, Lee said.
Less than 5 percent of Accton’s shipments to the US are currently made in China, as the company started to shift production out of China last year, Lee said.
Accton told the shareholders’ meeting that it plans to spend NT$800 million (US$25.39 million) on new facilities and equipment this year, Chinese-language online news outlet Wealth reported.
At the annual general meeting, shareholders approved a proposed cash dividend of NT$4 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 75 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$5.33 last year.
Accton made NT$2.95 billion in net profit last year, up 15 percent from NT$2.56 billion in 2017, the company’s annual report showed.
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