Taiwanese electronics manufacturers that supply components to Apple Inc for the iPhone saw their shares soar yesterday after Apple Inc demonstrated the widely anticipated handset at its MacWorld conference and expo in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Shares of both Entery Industrial Co (恩得利工業), which supplies connectors and cables to iPhone, and frequency control maker TXC Corp (台灣晶技), rose to the daily limit to close at NT$39.4 and NT$58.8, respectively, on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Optimism over the upcoming launch of the iPhone also raised shares of Catcher Technology Co (可成企業), which makes stainless casings and mechanical parts, by 5.2 percent to NT$362.5, while Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co (正崴精密), a provider of connectors and Bluetooth modules, closed up 0.75 percent to NT$134.
"We believe the iPhone launch is positive for certain component makers in Taiwan," Macquarie Research Equities said in a report released yesterday.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, and its handset-making unit Foxconn International Holdings Ltd (富士康控股), will make the phone, according to Macquarie Securities. It also said that Cheng Uei, Catcher and Entery should benefit the most because of their larger component exposure to iPhone.
Shares of Hon Hai rose 0.4 percent to close at NT$234 on the local bourse yesterday.
According to Ann Liang (梁嘉鈴), principal analyst at Gartner Inc's Taiwan branch, the makers are expected to continue to enjoy an upswing for the next six months, before the iPhone is formally introduced in the US in June.
Macquarie suggested that investors continue to accumulate shares especially of Cheng Uei and Catcher.
"We have been consistently positive on Cheng Uei due to its excellent profitability, its margin strength and its anticipated iPhone component order," the report said.
It was also upbeat on Catcher not only because of its exposure to iPhone, but also its high growth from both notebook and handset casings.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said he expected the company to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of next year, accounting for 1 percent of the 1 billion handsets sold globally per year.
Targeting at the wide user base of the successful iPod music players, the new iPhone has a built-in camera and touch screen, is Bluetooth-enabled and can play 15 hours of music.
Though iPhone received rave reviews in the US, Liang said that its performance in Taiwan's market remained to be seen.
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications has garnered a loyal fan base in Taiwan with its Walkman series, she said.
"As iPhone will only be launched in Asia next year, Apple will have a lot of catching up to do," she said.
But Macquarie believes that iPhone will be able to eat into the music phone market share, and "it is worth watching Sony Ericsson's market share."
If Apple manages to get a slice of the pie, it will impact Sony Ericsson's local component suppliers, such as keypad maker Ichia Technology Inc (毅嘉科技), the report said.
also see story:
Apple unleashes iPhone
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Global semiconductor stocks advanced yesterday, as comments by Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) at Davos, Switzerland, helped reinforce investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI). Samsung Electronics Co gained as much as 5 percent to an all-time high, helping drive South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI above 5,000 for the first time. That came after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose more than 3 percent to a fresh record on Wednesday, with a boost from Nvidia. The gains came amid broad risk-on trade after US President Donald Trump withdrew his threat of tariffs on some European nations over backing for Greenland. Huang further
Nvidia Corp’s GB300 platform is expected to account for 70 to 80 percent of global artificial intelligence (AI) server rack shipments this year, while adoption of its next-generation Vera Rubin 200 platform is to gradually gain momentum after the third quarter of the year, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said. Servers based on Nvidia’s GB300 chips entered mass production last quarter and they are expected to become the mainstay models for Taiwanese server manufacturers this year, Trendforce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) said in an interview. This year is expected to be a breakout year for AI servers based on a variety of chips, as
HSBC Bank Taiwan Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) and the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance cooperation on the suspicious transaction analysis mechanism. This landmark agreement makes HSBC the first foreign bank in Taiwan to establish such a partnership with the High Prosecutors Office, underscoring its commitment to active anti-fraud initiatives, financial inclusion, and the “Treating Customers Fairly” principle. Through this deep public-private collaboration, both parties aim to co-create a secure financial ecosystem via early warning detection and precise fraud prevention technologies. At the signing ceremony, HSBC Taiwan CEO and head of banking Adam Chen (陳志堅)
RSS