With the advent of hand-held wireless devices that combine multiple functions, the market for small to medium-sized touch screen panels is set to grow.
One Taiwan-based manufacturer, PanJit International's (
PanJit International is a semiconductor manufacturer whose touch screen manufacturing division has been showing signs that it is ready to become one of the established companies in the sector.
PanJit TSD expected to see 80 percent growth in revenues last year, with after tax profits at NT$119 million (US$3.68 million), and an earning per share of NT$2.98, an analyst, who requested anonymity, said yesterday.
The strong outlook for this sector leads to estimated net profits this year of NT$218 million, an 83 percent growth year on year, and estimated earnings per share at NT$5.48, the analyst said.
Although touch screen panels have been around for some time, often in self-help kiosks and ticketing machines, it is the introduction of Apple's iPhone with small to medium-sized touch screen panels that breaks them into the consumers' electronic market.
"The demand for touch screen GPS devices looks strong for this year, but we expect even stronger growth in the mobile phones market," said Hank Lin (
The premium mobile phones market, led by the likes of Apple and HTC (宏達電), requires capacitive touch screen panels, which are more expensive than resistive touch screen panels. However, companies that mass produce medium price range mobiles such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson may be ready to introduce new models, if touch screen supplies and inventory is not an issue, Lin said.
"We are acutely aware of the cycle of the mobile phone business, that is why we are ready to branch out into the capacitive touch screens market, where the profit margin is higher. We expect our products to be on the market by the second quarter of this year," he said.
Large-sized panels have a more uniform standard, whereas small to medium-sized panels vary widely in specifications, giving smaller, more flexible manufacturers an advantage, analysts said.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”