Eyeing the lucrative handheld electronics market, US chipmaker Qualcomm Inc is investing nearly US$1 billion in a Mirasol display plant in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The factory will occupy seven hectares, and be located in Longtan (龍潭), the site of the Hsinchu Science Park.
This investment follows Qualcomm’s joint venture with local electronics component maker Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co (正崴) in 2008 to set up Sollink Inc (高強光電), which makes handset displays using Qualcomm’s Mirasol technology.
Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said in September that the company expects “significant growth” out of Mirasol displays.
The new plant will produce smaller displays using power--efficient Mirosal technology for handheld devices such as electronic readers.
Those displays, mostly smaller than 5.7 inches, consume less power than LCD panels of a similar size and active matrix organic light emitting displays (AMOLED).
Jacobs said the potential overall market for displays similar to Qualcomm’s Mirasol screens would be worth about US$11 billion in annual sales. He said in September that Qualcomm plans to sharply cut the price of its Mirasol technology to develop a bigger market.
Last August, Northern Taiwan Science Park Administration -director-general Randy Yen (顏宗明) said Qualcomm was going to invest NT$63 billion (US$2.2 billion) in a Mirosal plant by leasing a 5.1-hectare plot from the government.
The so-called fifth-generation plant, which contractors began to build late last year, will process a maximum of 50,000 sheets of the raw materials used to make the displays per month, Yen said.
The ministry yesterday said Qualcomm had evaluated other possible sites, including China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, but decided to invest in Taiwan because of the massive pool of -technology talent here.
“Qualcomm has established a rapport with Taiwanese information, communications and technology firms, and it is aggressively involved in the development of Mirasol displays in view of the rise of smart handhelds such as e--readers,” the statement said.
The ministry said the new plant would bolster local employment opportunities and enhance Taiwan’s competitiveness in the display manufacturing industry.Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子) and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world’s third and fourth-largest LCD makers, are also based in Taiwan.
Major Taiwanese technology firms, including Acer Inc (宏碁), Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), BenQ Corp (明基) and Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), have introduced e-readers that allow users to read books and magazines downloaded from the Internet.
Qualcomm established a presence in Taiwan in 2003 by opening an office in Taipei and another in Hsinchu.
The Taipei office is the regional marketing and sales center for Qualcomm’s CDMA Technologies division, while the Hsinchu office supports Qualcomm’s MEMS Technologies division and leads the transfer of its display technology to manufacturing partners throughout Asia, according to its Web site.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
PORTFOLIO REBALANCING: The adjustments in three global equity indices reflect rising investor appetite for semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related stocks Taiwan’s weighting in major global equity indices compiled by MSCI Inc is to rise modestly following the latest quarterly review, underscoring the market’s expanding role in emerging-market portfolios, as global investors continue to favor the nation’s technology sector. Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index is to increase by 0.30 percentage points to 23.76 percent, after the changes take effect at the close of the May 29 session. Its weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index is to rise 0.37 percentage points to 27.16 percent, while that in the MSCI All Country World Index is to edge up slightly to
The Hsinchu County Government’s Labor Affairs Department yesterday said that it has received a plan from cosmetics brand Taiwan Shiseido Co (台灣資生堂) detailing mass layoffs at its plant in Hukou Township (湖口). While the labor authorities did not disclose the number of employees to be laid off, Japanese news media earlier in the day reported that the closure of the company’s factory in Hukou would result in 170 employees losing their jobs. Shiseido followed the law by reporting its layoff plan, the department said, adding that authorities would closely monitor negotiations between the management and affected employees and step in if any
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Tuesday confirmed a cyberattack targeting some of its North American facilities, but said the affected factories were gradually returning to normal. The company, known globally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said that its cybersecurity team “activated the response mechanism and implemented operational measures to ensure the continuity of production and delivery.” “The affected factories are resuming normal production,” the company said in a statement. Hon Hai had previously described it as a “technical issue,” when news of the cyberattack first surfaced. The confirmation followed media reports of a large-scale information technology system incident that broke out at
RSS