Nanya Technology Corp (
"Nanya Technology has a long-term goal to expand capacity as the increase will be crucial for us to remain competitive," Nanya Technology spokesman Pai Pei-lin (
"We won't rule out the possibility of building one on our own. But it will not happen in the near term," Pai said.
The Taoyuan-based dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chipmaker said it was assessing whether to build an advanced 12-inch wafer fab alone or to extend its partnership with Infineon Technologies AG of Germany.
Pai said his company had not made a final decision but had scouted several sites around the nation.
Nanya Technology is pinning its hopes on Inotera Memories Inc (
Inotera is expected to produce 24,000 wafers a month by the end of the year, less than half the 54,000 target for when full-scale production begins next year.
As the assessment is still in the early stage, Wu Chia-chau (
Nan Ya Plastics holds a controlling stake in Nanya Technology.
"I believe Infineon will by no means pull out of the joint venture, as it needs Nanya Technology to share the heavy capital spending and to leverage risk," said George Wu (吳裕良), an analyst with Primasia Securities Co.
Aside from safeguarding Nanya Technology's strong market position, Wu said he did not see the urgency for the Taiwanese chipmaker to build a new 12-inch wafer fab, but the investment could pave the way for demand in the next upturn.
Nanya Technology's smaller rivals Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (
Foreign brokerage CLSA Ltd has a "buy" recommendation on Nanya Technology and "out-perform" for Powerchip.
"It's unavoidable for Nanya Technology to increase capacity to seek growth. But what concerns me is if the market will be able to absorb the additional output," said Liu Szu-liang (劉思良), who tracks DRAM sector for Yuanta Core Pacific Capital Management (元大京華投顧).
Nanya Technology yesterday said revenues jumped 10 percent last month to NT$3.51 billion from NT$3.18 billion in March on a 16-percent surge in average selling prices.
The growth pace, however, will slow a bit this month because of tumbling spot prices for memory chips, Pai said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group