LG Electronics Inc, the world’s third-largest maker of mobile phones, said yesterday it was working to develop its own chips for smartphones to strengthen the company’s handset business.
“We’re working on it, but we haven’t come to any specifics we can announce right now,” Ken Hong, a spokesman for Seoul- based LG, said by telephone.
LG would benefit from developing its own chips, known as application processors, by saving costs and time to introduce new devices, said Soh Hyun-cheol, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp in Seoul.
In January, the company’s mobile division reported a loss for a third straight quarter after it lagged behind HTC Corp (宏達電) and Samsung Electronics Co in rolling out new smartphones.
“This can be very positive for LG,” Soh said.
“Being able to get key components within their own supply chain can be a good advantage in beating rivals,” Soh said.
MtekVision Co, a South Korean maker of semiconductors used in communication devices, is looking into developing chips with LG, Kim Chang-gyo, a spokesman for MtekVision said, confirming a Feb. 28 report by Digital Times.
Hong neither denied nor confirmed the report.
Samsung and Apple Inc are the only handset makers that design chips that go into their smartphones, said Kang Yoon-hum, a Seoul-based analyst at NH Investment & Securities Co.
LG has used processors from Qualcomm Inc, Texas Instruments Inc and Nvidia Corp in smartphones, Hong said.
LG’s mobile unit aims to return to profit this year by introducing new smartphones, including a model capable of recording 3D images, Park Jong-seok, head of the business, said on Feb. 14.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
RSS