AU Optronics Corp (AUO,
AU Optronics' latest move came after local rival Chi Mei Optoelectronis Corp (
"We invested in a LED firm recently," said Hsiao Ya-wen (
Hsiao's remarks came in the wake of a report in a Chinese-language business daily, the Commercial Times, yesterday that the company had acquired a 25 percent stake in LightHouse Technology Inc (
Hsiao confirmed the purchase, but declined to provide details about the deal.
The newspaper said that AU Optronics paid NT$12 per share for the 25 percent stake, which translates into an investment of NT$102.6 million.
Hsinchu-based LightHouse was set up in January 2003 by a team of technology specialists who used to work at Unipac Optoelectronics Corp (聯友光電).
Unipac merged with Acer Display Technology Inc in 2001, thuscreating the nation's biggest liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker which was renamed AU Optronics.
AUO and Chi Mei are investing for the future as LED chips are expected to overtake lamps as the main backlight source for computer and television panels over the next few years.
Both companies have been trying to vertically integrate their operations by strengthening internal supply of key components, including lamps and driver chips, to improve their cost structure and better manage the sharp fluctuations in the LCD industry.
AUO has a lamp manufacturing affiliate, Wellypower Optronics Corp (
"It's good for panel makers to invest in LED companies, as they will have a secure supply of LED chips when the market takes off at a cost of only several million dollars, which is cheap compared to investing hundreds of billions to build a factory," said Lin Chin-hsun (
Lin expects LED chips to overtake lamps as the major backlight source for panels used in laptops in the first quarter of 2008. LED chips are commonly used in mobile phone panels.
Shares of AU Optronics and Chi Mei advanced 2.51 percent and 4.52 percent to NT$49 and NT$39.25, respectively, yesterday, outpacing the benchmark index which posted a 1.3 percent gain.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six