China intends to purchase US$4.4 billion in Taiwan-made flat panels this year, a representative of the China Video Industry Association (CVIA, 中國電子視像行業協會) said yesterday.
That figure was twice the amount announced at the end of last year, CVIA secretary-general Bai Weimin (白為民) said at a flat-panel display seminar in Taipei.
“The US$2.2 billion panel procurement budget will not be enough to meet the expected increase in demand in the second half of this year. We will therefore add US$2.2 billion to this year’s budget,” Bai said.
A Chinese color TV procurement delegation consisting of nine leading Chinese color TV companies including Hisense Group (海信集團), Haier Co (海爾集團) and TCL Corp, arrived in Taiwan on Monday to procure flat panels at the invitation of Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會).
These Chinese color TV companies share between 70 percent and 80 percent of the Chinese market, Bai said.
“We hope the Chinese companies can tilt more toward Taiwanese companies, that they will buy more panels from Taiwanese companies,” he said.
Bai also called on the flat-panel industry on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to join hands to complement each other.
TAITRA chairman Wang Chih-kang (王志剛) said 17 million color TVs were sold in China last year. It is estimated that total sales of color TVs in China will reach 37 million units in 2012. This translates into an average growth rate of 30 percent annually.
This year alone, growth is already 77 percent, aided by China’s home-appliance subsidy program, Wang said.
Sichuan Changhong Electric Co (四川長虹), which aims to sell 7 million TV sets this year from 2 million last year, said it could buy stakes in AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and two other flat-panel makers.
“We have exchanged thoughts on technology co-development and financial investment,” Xu Ming (徐明), general manager of Changhong’s multimedia division, said yesterday. China’s second-largest TV maker was also in talks with Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管), Xu said.
AU Optronics and Chi Mei declined to comment on Xu’s remarks. Chunghwa Picture didn’t return calls seeking comment.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
RSS