High Tech Computer Corp (HTC,
"We think the US market for Windows-based phones" has much more room to grow, HTC president Peter Chou (
Taoyuan-based HTC shipped 7 million mobile devices last year, including personal digital assistants and cellphones.
HTC is supplying more handsets to US phone operators, including Cingular Wireless LLC, Verizon Communications Inc and Sprint Nextel Corp, after doubling revenue last year via sales to companies in Europe, its biggest market. HTC is also buying a controlling stake in Dopod International Corp (多普達) in order to expand sales of Windows-based handsets.
"In the US, operators have 90 percent of the market" for handset sales, Chou said. "So if you want to do business you need to work with them."
The company expects the proportion of sales from the US to triple to 30 percent this year from less than 10 percent last year.
EUROPE
The share from Europe is forecast to drop to 40 percent from about 50 percent to 60 percent last year, Chou said.
HTC's share of the market for Windows-based cellphones is around 60 percent to 70 percent, Chou said.
The company expects spending on research and development to expand to US$100 million from US$84 million last year.
HTC tripled net income to NT$11.8 billion (US$358 million) last year, while sales rose to NT$73.1 billion from NT$36.4 billion. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings by Thursday.
Shares of HTC fell 2.1 percent to NT$790 in Taipei, compared with a 1.3 percent decline in the benchmark TAIEX index.
The stock has gained 54 percent this year.
On June 2, HTC agreed to buy a controlling stake in cellphone maker Dopod. HTC currently produces phones for Dopod and is the company's sole supplier, Chou said.
"We would like to have Dopod focus on Asia," which accounts for around 30 percent of HTC's sales, Chou said.
Dopod is 90 percent owned by HTC chairwoman Cher Wang's (
LARGEST SHARE
Cher Wang is HTC's largest shareholder with a stake of more than 20 percent, Chou said.
Wang is Taiwan's richest woman according to Forbes magazine, and is the daughter of Taiwan's richest man, Wang Yung-ching (王永慶), founder of Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團).
"Even though I have a very rich boss, I try very hard to operate independently" of the family company, Chou said.
HTC also works independently of its largest partner, Microsoft, and has not committed to a Windows-only business model, Chou said.
The company has no plans for the moment to develop phones based on the rival Symbian operating system.
But HTC is open to the idea, he said.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
RSS