TPK Holding Co Ltd (宸鴻), one of Apple Inc’s touch panel suppliers, missed its third-quarter revenue target after posting a weaker-than-expected 12.7 percent monthly growth figure for revenue last month amid lukewarm customer demand.
Revenue rose to NT$10.639 billion (US$362 million) last month, compared with August’s NT$9.443 billion, according to a company statement. However, that represented a 22.2 percent contraction, from NT$13.668 billion in the same month last year.
TPK originally expected revenue to rebound notably last month, saying that demand from tablet makers would pick up first in preparation for holiday sales during the current quarter.
In the quarter ending last month, TPK’s revenue plunged 23 percent to NT$29.467 billion, from NT$38.285 billion in the second quarter, marking the weakest quarterly revenue in about two years.
TPK had forecasted in August that revenue would shrink by between 15 percent and 20 percent last quarter, citing sluggish demand for high-end smartphones, tablets and slow adoption of notebook computers with touch features.
Earnings per share is expected to more than halve to between NT$3 and NT$4 last quarter, from NT$9.02 a share in the second quarter, an analyst said, citing a consensus estimate. The analyst declined to be named.
TPK said the fourth quarter would be better than the third quarter, supported by seasonal demand. The company is scheduled to release third-quarter earrings and a business outlook on Oct. 30.
In August, the touch panel maker cut its capital spending this year by 16 percent to NT$25 billion, from its previous estimate of NT$30 billion, to cope with slowing demand.
TPK shares surged 2.92 percent to NT$282 yesterday, boosted by its announcement on Thursday that it is forming a strategic partnership with Japan’s Nissha Printing Co to tap into the middle-end smartphone market. The partnership would speed up commercialization of a new touch panels for middle-end smartphones, the company said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last