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.
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Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) have repeatedly hit new highs, but an equity analyst said the stock’s valuation remains within a reasonable range and any pullback would likely be technical. The contract chipmaker’s historical price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has ranged between 20 and 30, Cathay Futures Consultant Co (國泰證期) analyst Tsai Ming-han (蔡明翰) told Central News Agency. With market consensus projecting that TSMC would post earnings per share of about NT$100 (US$3.17) this year, supported by strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, and the stock currently trading at a P/E ratio of below 25, Tsai said the valuation
The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has triggered a seismic reshuffling of global equity markets, with Taiwan and South Korea muscling past European nations one by one. With its stock market now valued at nearly US$4.3 trillion, Taiwan surpassed the UK, Europe’s biggest market, earlier this month, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. South Korea is about US$140 billion away from doing the same. The tech-heavy Asian markets have shot past Germany and France in the past seven months. The shift is largely down to massive gains in shares of three companies that provide essential hardware for AI: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電),
The US Department of Commerce last week ordered multiple chip equipment companies to halt shipments of certain tools to China’s second-largest chipmaker, Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd (華虹半導體), its latest action to slow the country’s development of advanced chips, two people familiar with the matter said. The department sent letters to at least a handful of companies informing them of restrictions on tools and other materials destined for two Hua Hong facilities US officials believe make China’s most sophisticated chips, the people said. Top US chip equipment companies Lam Research Corp, Applied Materials Inc and KLA Corp, each of which has significant
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