Wiwynn Corp (緯穎), a supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers and components, on Thursday said that it plans to invest US$300 million to build its first manufacturing facility in Texas to cope with the realignment of global supply chains amid escalating macroeconomic uncertainty.
Wiwynn operates manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, Mexico and Malaysia. The Texas factory plan came as US President Donald Trump said that sweeping tariffs of 25 percent on Mexican and Canadian imports would take effect on March 4.
Domestically, Wiwynn is also increasing its capacity. The company on Thursday raised capital expenditures by about 29 percent for its new manufacturing facility and office building at the Southern Science Park to NT$8 billion (US$243.8 million), higher than an earlier estimate of NT$6.2 billion.
Photo: CNA
The new investment would further strengthen the company’s global production footprint and expand its scope of delivery, the company said.
Wiwynn counts US cloud services providers Meta Platforms Inc and Microsoft Corp among its major clients.
“The company is optimistic about data center long-term market demand and growth, and is committed to continuous investments to deepen AI, computing, thermal, and technologies and product development,” Wiwynn said. “The company will also flexibly adjust the global capacity allocation to respond to political and economic dynamics, and customer demand.”
Wiwynn on Thursday posted the strongest quarterly net profit in the company’s history last quarter, amounting NT$7.05 billion, benefiting from strong demand for regular and AI-enabled servers.
That means last quarter’s net profits had doubled from NT$3.51 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023. Earnings per share soared from NT$20.1 a year ago to NT$37.9 last quarter.
The company previously told investors that AI servers accounted for about half of its total revenue in the final quarter of last year, compared with about 20 percent in the first quarter. Revenue last quarter surged 97.5 percent year-on-year to NT$115.61 billion.
Last year as a whole, Wiwynn’s net profits surged 89 percent year-on-year to NT$22.78 billion compared with NT$12.04 billion in 2023. EPS climbed from NT$68.88 to NT$126.57.
Gross margin improved from 9.37 percent in 2023 to 10.37 percent last year, while revenue hit a record high after rising 49 percent from NT$241.90 billion to NT$360.54 billion last year.
The company’s board of directors on Thursday approved a cash dividend distribution of NT$74 per common share, setting an all-time high. That represented a payout ratio of 58.47 percent.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
‘SACRED MOUNTAIN’: The chipmaker can form joint ventures abroad, except in China, but like other firms, it needs government approval for large investments Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) needs government permission for any overseas joint ventures (JVs), but there are no restrictions on making the most advanced chips overseas other than for China, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. US media have said that TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, has been in talks for a stake in Intel Corp. Neither company has confirmed the talks, but US President Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of taking away the US’ semiconductor business and said he wants the industry back
RSS