Taiwanese communications device manufacturers will see sales grow by more than 20 percent next year due to rising demand for their products, including global positioning systems (GPS), a Taipei-based researcher said yesterday.
Sales of locally made GPS devices are expected to soar 30 percent to an estimated NT$72.2 billion (US$2.15 billion) next year from NT$55.8 billion for this year, making the gadget the second-largest contributor to local communications companies, according to the Industrial Technology Research Institute's (ITRI) forecast.
"A drastic price drop in portable GPS' has stimulated the demand this year, especially in Western Europe. As demand for built-in GPS' for autos is rising, the growth will extend to 2006," said Jill Chi (
PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP
The price for handheld GPS devices has plunged more than 30 percent from US$600 per unit to US$400, Chi said.
MiTAC International Corp (神達), the world's biggest aftermarket automotive GPS maker, expected pre-tax income for the fourth quarter of this year to more than double to as much as NT$1.5 billion from a year ago.
The firm's shares have almost tripled this year to close at NT$47.3 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, up from NT$17.1 at the beginning of the year.
Local communications-product makers' sales will grow 21 percent to NT$600 billion next year from an estimated NT$494 billion this year, Chi said.
Sales from mobile phones, which make up more than a third of the total communications-product sales, will jump roughly 36 percent to NT$216.1 billion next year, benefiting largely from the world's top handset makers' extending into emerging markets such as India, Chi said.
"The growth rate will be sustainable as those global handset brands will increasingly farm out production of low-end handsets to local companies. Low-end models will make up the biggest part of local companies' shipments," the researcher said.
The average selling price, however, will drop to below US$50 per unit, she predicted.
Compared to the sales increase, growth for shipments next year will be much faster, at 60 percent, to 129 million units next year from an estimated 80.98 million units this year, according to Chi's forecast.
The world's two largest cellphone vendors, Nokia and Motorola, have already tapped into underdeveloped areas by selling ultra-cheap models, and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB and LG Electronics Inc are set to enter those markets next year, Chi said.
Chi said entry-level third generation (3G) handsets would be the key products for firms who want to expand their global market share.
High Tech Computer Corp (宏達電子), which supplies handsets to some of the world's top mobile operators, started supplying mobile operators with its first 3G model with Microsoft's latest operating system for mobile phones last month.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks