Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子) was the top TV panel supplier in China for the second quarter this year, grabbing 23 percent of the market in terms of sales volume, according to a report published yesterday by WitsView, a Taiwan-based industrial research institute.
The report attributed the company’s strong showing to its efforts to “devote itself to long-term business in China.”
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), another Taiwanese LCD firm, and Samsung Electronics Co of South Korea tied for second place, with a 22 percent share of the market, while LG Display Co of South Korea accounted for 19 percent, placing fourth, the report said.
“In recent years, China has become the single market that has demonstrated the most rapid growth in TV panel demand,” the WitsView report said.
“Major global panel makers consider China to be the key market and gaining a foothold in this market will ensure more effective panel outpu,” it added.
Taiwanese flat-panel makers accounted for 50 percent of China’s total TV panel sales in the second quarter, followed by South Korea’s 42 percent. Japanese and Chinese manufacturers shared the remaining 8 percent.
The research institute said the government’s policy of allowing local panel makers to set up back-end product assembly bases in China has made Taiwanese firms more competitive.
In February, Taiwanese authorities further relaxed restrictions allowing local firms to set up a maximum of three sixth-generation or above flat-panel plants in China, as long as they maintain a technological lead over China and promise to continue investing in Taiwan.
AU Optronics is currently seeking regulatory approval to set up a US$3 billion flat-panel plant in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province.
As for flat-panel shipment by screen size, LG Display ranked the largest supplier in China, taking 24 percent of the market, as 42-inch or larger panels make up a large portion of the company’s shipments.
The market share of Chimei Innolux, AU Optronics and Samsung ranged between 21 percent and 23 percent in terms of panel size.
WitsView said flat panel firms in South Korea had gained a competitive advantage by frequently launching new products, such as LED TV panels and larger panels.
In related news, AU Optronics and HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) declined to confirm whether they expect orders from a delegation from Guangdong Province.
The two companies said that they were unaware of any plans for the Chinese delegation to visit their factories and could not comment on any orders by customers.
It has been reported that the 1,000-member delegation, which arrived in Taiwan on Monday headed by Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua (黃華華), is expected to place large orders with AU Optronics and HannStar.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six