Taiwan’s optoelectronics industry posted a record output value last year by hitting NT$2.27 trillion (US$77.6 billion) amid strong international demand for Taiwanese solar components, LED lighting and electronic paper, the Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA, 光電科技工業協進會) said yesterday.
The figure, up 37 percent from last year, smashed the record set in 2007, the association said.
The output value meant Taiwan seized an 18 percent share of the global optoelectronics market, Murphy Lin (林穎毅), director of PIDA’s industry and technology research division, told a media briefing.
“Flat-panel displays have led the growth of Taiwan’s optoelectronics industry for the last 10 years,” he said. “For the next five years, solar power and LED will take center stage.”
There have been signs supporting the trend, he said, as solar modules and solar systems reported the highest output growth last year among all optoelectronics products, by increasing 470 percent and 433 percent respectively.
The third-highest growth came from LED lighting, which expanded 130 percent, Lin said.
The output of the solar power sector is forecast to hit NT$299.8 billion in 2013, from NT$189.5 billion last year, according to PIDA’s statistics.
Asia has increased its weight in world solar battery production, with China commanding 38 percent of the production share last year, Taiwan taking 12 percent and Japan 11 percent, Lin said.
Production shares of Germany and the US were 14 percent and 13 percent respectively last year, the association said.
In terms of the LED sector, PIDA industrial analyst Deaphne Kuo (郭子菱) said the sector will see a boost as more Asian countries, such as Japan, Taiwan and China, deploy LEDs for street lamps and in government offices.
The falling price tags would also add to the attractiveness for people to buy LED lighting, she said.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
RSS