Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) shares gained in early Taipei trading after a Nikkei Shimbun report that the world’s largest contract manufacturing service firm for electronics and communication products plans to acquire control of a LCD venture between Japan’s Hitachi Ltd and Canon Inc for ¥100 billion (US$1.2 billion).
The stock advanced 0.4 percent to NT$117.50 as of 9:04am. The stock ended unchanged at NT$117 yesterday.
The companies are in final negotiations for Hon Hai to acquire ¥50 billion in each of two private offerings from the venture over the next two years, dropping Hitachi’s stake to 30 percent from 75.1 percent, according to the report.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The unit, Hitachi Displays, will use the funds to build a plant in Japan that will start operations in 2012, doubling the unit’s capacity, the report said.
Edmund Ding (丁祈安), a spokesman for Hon Hai Precision -Industry Co, did not -immediately answer calls to his mobile phone.
Hitachi declined to confirm the report on its subsidiary, with a spokeswoman saying: “The company is seeking measures to strengthen its operations.”
When the market share of Hitachi Displays and Chimei are combined, they controlled 17.3 percent of the world’s small and medium-size LCD panel market last year, beating the top-ranked Sharp Corp of Japan, which has a 16.5 percent share, the Nikkei said.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has secured three construction permits for its plan to build a state-of-the-art A14 wafer fab in Taichung, and is likely to start construction soon, the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, Wang Chun-chieh (王俊傑), deputy director general of the science park bureau, said the world’s largest contract chipmaker has received three construction permits — one to build a fab to roll out sophisticated chips, another to build a central utility plant to provide water and electricity for the facility and the other to build three office buildings. With the three permits, TSMC
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would