Director-General of the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) Admin-istration James Lee (李界木) for the first time warned against overinvestment by the nation's TFT-LCD manufacturing firms, who are planning to ramp up production at the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) in Taichung County.
"It is worrying to see that this unlimited expansion of the TFT-LCD industry may leave photoelectric plants without any profits and cause the overuse of land, capital, electricity and talent," said Lee. "Therefore, it is advisable to set up criteria for the investment and establishment of new factories in the Central Science Park."
Lee, who doubles as director-general of the planned Ilan Science Park (宜蘭科學園區) Administration, made the remark at a press conference held in Hsinchu on Monday.
Inaugurated two years ago, the Central Taiwan Science Park is becoming a hub for manufacturing photoelectric products in Taiwan. After AU Optronics Corp (
Lee stressed that the government had a key role to play in maintaining the viability of the TFT-LCD sector.
"It's a good thing for the Taiwanese factories to continue investing in Taiwan, but the government has to come up with a strategy to deal with the development of the industry over the next ten years," Lee said. "Otherwise problems such as overproduction, declining prices and the lack of profitability are sure to arise."
Lee said that AU Optronics Corp and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. have placed a large order for a chunk of land, which is likely to push other industries out of the area. In response to Lee's remark, an AU Optronics official who requested anonymity said yesterday that the company believes that if the Central Taiwan Science Park is really running out of space, than the government should figure out how to acquire more land.
The official added that the nation should consider the issue from an international perspective if it intends to stay competitive.
translated by Daniel Cheng
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,