Semiconductor equipment supplier Acter Group Co (聖暉) yesterday said it has secured record-high orders amounting to NT$31 billion, up 2 percent from last year, benefiting from an investment spree on new chip manufacturing facilities in China and Southeast Asia.
As Beijing aims to push for a chip self-sufficiency rate of 70 percent next year, Chinese chipmakers are showing strong ambition to build more facilities this year, Acter said.
About 30 new fabs, mostly less advanced, would be under construction by the second half of this year, it said.
Photo: Bloomberg
“We have received more orders than we had anticipated. China continues to show strong demand,” Acter president Lai Ming-kun (賴銘崑) told an investors’ conference in Taipei. “Most Chinese fabs are to make chips on 16-nanometer technologies and other mature process technologies, as advanced equipment and materials are banned from being exported to China due to the US-China trade dispute.”
Southeast Asia would be another region with strong growth this year as Taiwanese electronics companies and chip packaging service providers are allocating production to Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia to minimize risks of geopolitical tensions, Lai said.
Rapid demand in the region is the main reason behind the company’s optimism about this year’s revenue growth, the company said.
Customers plan to produce servers, printed circuit boards and other electronic components at new factories.
Three months ago, the clean room equipment supplier was neutral about this year’s outlook, it said.
Acter expects revenue this year to return to growth, after dipping 11 percent year-on-year to NT$25 billion (US$785.4 million) last year.
China was the biggest revenue contributor last year with a 49 percent share, followed by Taiwan at 42 percent and Southeast Asia at 9 percent, it said.
Acter is also looking at new business opportunities in Japan and India, Lai said.
Acter counts the world’s major foundry companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯), among its customers.
Nova Technology Corp (朋億), an equipment manufacturing subsidiary of Acter, would have greater exposure to Japan this year, the company said.
Nova specializes in supplying high-purity chemical supply and dispensing systems, special gas supply systems and high-level wet-process equipment for cleaning.
The company is considering setting up a Japanese unit as two of its main customers are mulling building new plants there, it said.
The firm has secured record-high orders of NT$11 billion, with about 70 percent coming from Chinese customers and 20 percent from Taiwan, it said.
Nova expects revenue this year to reach NT$10 billion, up 9.4 percent from NT$9.14 billion last year.
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