Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶), the nation’s second-biggest solar cell maker, said it expected product prices to rise through the first half of the year as demand improves.
Global prices will probably climb about 2 percent each month, president Pan Wen-whe (潘文輝) told reporters in Taipei yesterday.
Global demand for solar panels may rise 20 percent this year as governments encourage the use of alternative energy to replace fossil fuels, Pan said.
Global installations of photovoltaic solar systems are forecast to jump 39 percent this year to 22.2 gigawatts, technology researcher Isuppli said last month.
“Market conditions have improved,” Pan said, adding that the company has been running its plants at full capacity.
Miaoli-based Gintech plans to boost its annual cell production capacity to 1.5 gigawatts by the end of August, from 930 megawatts currently, chairman Wenent Pan (潘文炎) said at the media briefing.
Capital spending will rise to NT$5.5 billion (US$187 million) this year from NT$1.5 billion last year as the company expands capacity, chief financial officer Andrew Shih (石同福) told reporters.
Gintech rose 1.2 percent to close at NT$93.80 in Taipei trading, underperforming the benchmark TAIEX, which climbed 1.8 percent.
Motech Industries Inc is the nation’s biggest solar cell maker by market value.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks