Memory chip maker Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) said yesterday that its LED materials plant currently under construction in Xuzhou, China, part of a plan to diversify its business, will begin operations next year.
Speaking on the sidelines of a technology forum in Shanghai, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) said the new plant will benefit from Xuzhou’s geographic location and convenient transportation links after it becomes operational.
In March, Powerchip announced it would invest US$15 million at a third location in Xuzhou, which would produce LED EPI wafers and chips, core LED materials.
Huang said the company plans to invest a total of US$300 million in LED production facilities in China to help cushion the impact of a downturn in Powerchip’s core business — dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip manufacturing.
Powerchip is one of many Taiwanese high-tech firms, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), that have invested in the production of energy efficiency or renewable energy products, such as LEDs and solar cells, and are also targeting the China market.
In the first half of the year, 925,000 LED TVs were sold in China, 10.6 percent of all flat panel TVs sold there during that period. The level of market penetration is expected to rise to 25 percent in the second half of the year, indicating that the LED sector will grow accordingly.
Last month, TSMC said it would raise capital expenditure for this year to US$5.9 billion from the previously planned US$4.8 billion and designate about US$100 million for business diversification, which the market believes will be directed at the LED and solar power sectors.
The global DRAM sector is suffering from declining prices because of weaker demand caused by the eurozone’s debt problems and the slowing pace of global economic recovery, market observers said.
Several Taiwanese DRAM makers, such as Powerchip, Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) and Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技), are migrating to advanced production processes in an attempt to cut costs and reduce the impact of falling product prices.
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