Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), the nation's second-largest flat panel maker, said yesterday the second quarter would be a better-than-expected period, saying a rebound in demand for most products has caused supply constraints in a traditionally slow season.
"Overall, business in the second quarter has been better than the guidance we previously gave," said Kuo Chen-lung (
Chi Mei said in April that panel shipments would rise between 15 percent and 20 percent at a quarterly rate in the April to June quarter, citing a strong rebound and flat prices.
PHOTO: AFP
"We are unable to meet our customers' demand for most of our products, ranging from mobile phone panels to television panels," Kuo said.
There is already a severe shortage in the supply of 26-inch and mainstay 32-inch panels for TVs and 19-inch and 22-inch widescreen computer monitors, Kuo said.
The recovery has boosted panel prices between 2 percent and 6 percent on a monthly basis in the first half of June, said market researcher WitsView Technology Corp, a unit of DRAMeXchange Technology Inc (集邦科技) in Taipei.
The faster recovery from last year's downturn would carry into the second half and would magnify the traditional seasonal upturn, Kuo said.
As panel makers and channel operators inventories have already been reduced to a low level in the first half, something rarely seen in the past, "prospects for the second half should be quite good," Kuo said.
Chi Mei's upbeat outlook is in line with its larger rival AU Optronics Corp's (友達光電) expectations of a shortage on seasonal demand.
Chi Mei yesterday showcased its latest products, which should bring more new orders starting next month.
The products included a 7.5-inch thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal-display panel for low-priced laptop computers in the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program and high-margin panels such as computer panels with light emitting diode (LED) backlights and high definition TV panels measuring up to 52 inches.
Chi Mei said it is supplying panels to OLPC manufacturer Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and it plans to start shipping 15.4-inch panels with LEDs next month to customers in the US, Kuo said.
Chi Mei will also begin supplying 20.1-inch screens, the biggest ever for notebook computers, to the world's biggest computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co next month.
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