Solar energy industry representatives from China and Taiwan yesterday agreed that they would need to collaborate on manufacturing and technological research and development (R&D) to stem falling solar cell prices and digest inventories if they are to avoid a dilemma similar to the one hurtin the global dynamic random access memory (DRAM) industry.
Solar cell makers suffered their worst financial performance in the first quarter as a result of the global financial crisis and Spain’s reduction of solar cell orders, Motech Industrial Inc (茂迪) chairman and chief executive officer Simon Tsuo (左元准) said at an industry forum in Taipei.
Plummeting solar cell prices, which have created a buyer’s market and, subsequently, a buildup of huge inventories among manufacturers as a result of their customers’
wait-and-see attitude, have also eroded profitability, he said.
Auria Solar Co (宇通) chairman Tsai Jin-yao (蔡進耀) expressed similar views during the forum held at the Taipei International Convention Center.
“Global buyers are seeking Chinese prices at Taiwanese quality, making it impossible for cross-strait firms to be profitable when the two countries are constantly engaged in a cutthroat price war,” he said.
To prevent such friction in the burgeoning green technology industry, Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) proposed cross-strait solar supply chain collaboration through capital infusions from both sides in joint investment, R&D and solar cell production.
Instead of competition resulting in repetition in upstream technology, China and Taiwan can “work with each other in downstream solar technology with Taiwan sharing our expertise in battery and panel making, for example,” Yiin said.
The ministry earlier this week proposed allowing Chinese investors to indirectly acquire stakes of up to 30 percent in local companies. Yiin said the Cabinet would likely approve the measure by the end of this month, when the ministry is to release the list of domestic sectors that would be qualified to receive Chinese investment.
During yesterday’s forum, Tsai pushed once again for the government to pass a proposed statute governing the development of renewable energy (再生能源發展例), which has been delayed at the Legislative Yuan for more than eight years, in order to promote the cross-strait solar agenda.
This would no doubt bring tremendous opportunities to Taiwan, he said.
“And once China and Taiwan have become the dominant solar energy players, we can be the ones to set global solar standards and be the leader in this industry,” Tsai said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last