Electric scooter maker Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) this year expects its number of electric battery swapping stations to outstrip the number of gas stations in the nation following seven years of deployment, a sign that electric two-wheelers are gaining traction.
As of the end of last year, Gogoro had built 2,215 GoStations nationwide, mostly in urban areas, up from 1,937 in 2020.
The number of gas stations operated by CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) was 2,487.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
“By the end of this year, we are very confident that the number of battery swapping stations will surpass the number of gas stations nationwide,” Gogoro vice president for energy services Alan Pan (潘璟倫) told a news conference yesterday.
Gorogo aims to deploy more large-scale electric battery swapping stations, dubbed Super GoStations, and other stations in collaboration with government agencies, Pan said.
The company also plans to add battery stations in more remote areas, he said.
Gogoro’s 453,300 riders can swap batteries at GoStations located in 7-Eleven convenience stores, and even one in Nantou County’s Wuling (武嶺) on Hehuanshan (合歡山), the highest highway in Taiwan.
New vehicle sales by Gogoro and its partners in the Powered by Gogoro Network (PBGN) contracted 5.2 percent year-on-year to 93,999 units last year, outperforming the overall scooter market, in which sales plunged 21.9 percent year-on-year.
PBGN members include Yamaha Motor Co, Aeon Motor Co (宏佳騰), Motive Power Industry Co (摩特動力) and Suzuki Motor Corp.
Gogoro chief product officer Peng Ming-i (彭明義) expects new electric vehicle sales to return to growth this year.
The penetration rate of electric scooters is also forecast to climb this year, compared with 11.6 percent last year, up from 9.6 percent in 2020.
Peng declined to provide further forecasts ahead of Gogoro’s debut on the US market.
Gogoro, Yamaha, Aeon and Suzuki are scheduled to launch new models later this year, which would also provide growth momentum.
DISMAL OUTLOOK: A Citigroup analyst predicted firms face ‘the worst semiconductor downturn in at least a decade,’ due to inventory build and the potential of a recession Semiconductor stocks tumbled after Micron Technology Inc became the latest chipmaker to warn about slowing demand, triggering concern that the industry is heading into a painful downturn. In the US on Tuesday, the Philadelphia semiconductor index sank 4.6 percent, with all 30 members in the red, its biggest drop in about two months. In Asia, chip stocks from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc and Tokyo Electron Ltd slumped. Investors are growing increasingly skittish as the notoriously cyclical industry is hurtling toward a prolonged slump after years of widespread shortages that led to heavy
With a tantalizing array of satay chicken, wok-fried mud crab and chilled tiger prawns, the dinner buffet at Singapore’s Grand Hyatt hotel typically sets diners back about US$70. Those on a tighter budget and with an eye on sustainability can fill a box for one-tenth of that price. Across Asia, tech start-ups are taking food otherwise destined for landfill and providing discounted meals through mobile phone apps. About one-third of food is lost or wasted every year globally, and the mountains of waste are estimated to cause 8 to 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions such as methane, the UN says.
MAJOR REVENUE CONTRIBUTOR: The company said that it expects revenue this year to increase annually due to an improved smart consumer electronics outlook Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said revenue this quarter would be flat from last quarter, despite new phone models launched by key customers, as the market faces weakening demand. The iPhone assembler, based in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城), said it is cautious about its business outlook, given mounting uncertainty regarding geopolitical tensions, soaring inflation and COVID-19 flare-ups, but still expects revenue this quarter to be higher than the NT$1.4 trillion (US$46.67 billion) it reported a year earlier. The forecast came as the company posted record second-quarter net profit of NT$33.29 billion, up 12 percent year-on-year from NT$29.78 billion.
Yageo Corp (國巨) yesterday said that its revenue would drop by a low single-digit percentage this quarter from a historical high last quarter, as customers and distributors are holding back demand to concentrate on inventory digestion due to flagging smartphone and notebook computer demand. The world’s biggest supplier of passive components expects to take three to six months to reduce its inventory of commoditized passive components to a normal level of 100 to 110 days, from 130 days currently. Yageo would reduce its factory utilization rate for standard passive components to about 60 percent this quarter, from about 70 percent last quarter,