Taiwanese solar companies reported 27.5 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter, benefiting from strong demand in Japan and German as well as from Chinese companies because of China’s trade disputes with the US and EU, a research house said yesterday.
Revenue increased to NT$22.78 billion (US$760 million) in the first three months of the year, from NT$17.86 billion in the final quarter of last year, the Industry and Technology Intelligence Service (ITIS) said in a report.
That figure represents an annual decline of 8 percent, according to ITIS.
Sales of solar cells jumped 25 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$15.58 billion, accounting for 68 percent of the industry’s total revenue last quarter.
The growth momentum is expected to continue this quarter as demand from Chinese solar companies is likely to continue to grow as they may face new punitive import tariffs imposed by the European Commission, which is expected to unveil a preliminary ruling on Chinese solar panels on June 6, ITIS said.
Revenue is expected to grow 14.4 percent to NT$26.07 billion this quarter from last quarter, ITIS said.
“Demand is likely to remain strong in the second quarter as Chinese solar companies may further diversify their solar cell and solar module sources to cope with the upcoming ruling from European Commission,” ITIS analyst Jay Wang (王孟傑) said by telephone yesterday.
Demand from Japan has been robust due to favorable government policies, Wang said.
The Japanese government has plans to provide low-interest loans to citizens to install solar systems on residential rooftops, the Nikkei Shimbun reported yesterday.
“Some local solar module makers’ capacities are totally booked by their Japanese customers,” Wang said.
Factory utilization may rise to more than 95 percent on average this quarter, Wang forecast.
Wang has raised his revenue forecast for local solar companies for this year from NT$80 billion to NT$95.78 billion. That represented an annual growth of 1.5 percent from NT$94.39 billion.
Supply has decreased as some solar firms such as China’s largest, Suntech Power Holdings Co (尚德), launched restructuring programs to mitigate the huge losses incurred after solar product prices plunged by 40 percent to 60 percent annually last year, which would help slow price decline, he said.
Shares of Motech Industries Inc (茂迪), the nation’s biggest solar cell maker, plummeted 6.94 percent to NT$41.55 after hitting their highest position in almost a year on Friday last week.
The stock prices of solar cell makers Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶) and Neo Solar Power Corp (日月光) yesterday tumbled 4.33 percent and 3.77 percent to NT$32 and NT$25.5 respectively.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
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