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.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS