Chi Mei Optoelectronics Co (奇美電子), the nation’s second-biggest liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker, said yesterday it had suspended plans to start mass production of large-size TV screens at a new advanced fab, citing a gloomy market outlook.
The Tainan-based panel maker said in October it planned to start shipping 50-inch or larger TV panels from an 8.5-generation (8.5G) plant in the second half of this year.
“The company has started moving in equipment for the 8.5G fab. However, as the market outlook is unclear, the company will set a new schedule for mass production depending on market demand,” Chi Mei said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Chi Mei had said earlier that it expected falling prices to boost demand for LCD TVs with screens bigger than 40 inches.
Chi Mei’s filing confirmed a report by the Chinese-language Commercial Times that it had postponed the production ramp up of the 8.5G factory.
Chi Mei could see losses widen to NT$20.34 billion (US$605 million) in the fourth quarter of last year, while its bigger rival, AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), could swing into losses of NT$24.8 billion in the same period as panel prices plunge on contracting demand, Citigroup said in a report.
Shares of Chi Mei and AUO fell 0.49 percent and 2.12 percent to NT$10.1 and NT$23.05 respectively.
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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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