Shares of the nation's top solar cell makers dropped yesterday after industry watchers issued a caution on the industry's outlook because of a shortage of materials.
Shares of Motech Industries Inc (
"Solar-related companies may see further declines in margins, dragged down by material shortages, despite increased demand for solar energy," JP Morgan analyst Gokul Hariharan said in a report on Friday.
Most solar component makers, excluding material suppliers, saw declining margins in the first quarter, because of the supply scarcity in silicon wafers and more Chinese firms competing in the field, the analyst said.
Motech's profit margins declined to 24.4 percent in the first quarter, down 7.3 percentage points from the earlier three months. It saw sales rise 240 percent from a year earlier to NT$4.5 billion for the first four months.
E-ton's margins also dropped to 16.3 percent in the first quarter from 24.3 percent in the earlier three months. Its revenues, meanwhile, grew 99 percent to NT$1.5 billion in the first four months.
E-ton was fast to dismiss any material shortages by announcing it had sealed a 10-year supply deal yesterday.
Under the pact, the supplier will provide E-ton with 350 megawatts' worth of silicon wafers through the next 10 years, E-ton said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, without specifying the partner or the price.
SinoPac Securities Corp (建華證券) recently said they expect to see a slight easing of the supply shortage.
"With the increase in production capacity and an easing of the supply problem, solar-related companies should see stronger sales momentum this month," SinoPac said in a research note last week.
Motech said on May 9 it had won a new sales deal.
It has signed a contract with Open Energy to supply the US renewable energy company with solar cells, paving the way for Motech's expansion into the US market.
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
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