CHT revenue to rise by 2%
Chunghwa Telecom Co (CHT, 中華電信) on Friday last week forecast its revenue for this year would increase by NT$4.48 billion (US$142.9 million), or 2 percent year-on-year, to NT$231.09 billion, as the nation’s largest telecoms operator continuously benefits from expanded mobile Internet services and the persistent migration of broadband subscribers to faster services.
The company’s increased revenue contribution from these growing businesses would offset the projected decrease in voice service revenue attributed to voice over Internet protocol substitution and market competition, CHT said in a statement.
Operating income is expected to increase by NT$250 million, or 0.5 percent, while non-operating income might decrease by NT$890 million from last year, mainly due to declines in interest income, foreign currency exchange gains and other income, with net income likely to hit NT$37.50 billion this year, or NT$4.83 per share, CHT said.
Himax forecasts limited growth
Himax Technologies Inc (奇景光電) might see limited growth in its earnings for this year due to uncertain end demand for liquid crystal on silicon and wafer-level optics products, UBS AG said in a client note on Friday last week.
The company also faces rising competition in the CMOS image sensor business from Chinese competitors and increasing pricing pressure in the mobile display drive IC segment, as well as a limited cost reduction due to a tight 20cm foundry, UBS said.
Himax, which designs chips used in flat-panel displays, on Thursday last week offered its business guidance for this quarter, with revenue declining 15 percent to 22 percent from last quarter’s US$227.2 million and earnings per share of between US$0.073 and US$0.088.
Nanya remains fourth in mobile
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) retained its title as the fourth-largest mobile DRAM supplier in the world in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Taipei-based market researcher DRAMexchange.
DRAMexchange said that on the back of strong smartphone sales, Nanya saw its mobile DRAM sales for the October-December period last year rising 2.1 percent from a quarter earlier to US$63 million to grasp a 1.8 percent share of the global market.
Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) came in fifth after posting US$31 million in mobile DRAM sales in the fourth quarter, with a 0.9 percent share in the global mobile DRAM market in the fourth quarter, DRAMexchange said.
Leading the market in the fourth quarter was Samsung Electronics Co, which took a 46.1 percent share, followed by SK Hynix Inc with a 28 percent share and US-based Micron Group with 23.3 percent, DRAMexchange said.
Projector imports rise 2.2%
Shipments of projectors to Taiwan grew by an annual 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to data compiled by research firm IDC.
The number of units shipped, 21,898, also represented growth of 3 percent compared with the previous quarter.
The slight increase was attributed to large volumes of shipments to the education sector, as well as replacements for models used by consumers at home before the Lunar New Year holiday, IDC said on Thursday.
Seiko Epson Corp remained the leading company in the nation’s projector market, with a market share of 29.5 percent in the quarter from October to December last year, followed by NEC Corp, BenQ Corp (明基), Optoma Corp (奧圖碼) and Vivitek Corp, the report said.
Bicycle parts exports rise 13%
Taiwan’s bicycle parts exports rose 13.08 percent year-on-year to US$1.04 billion last year, according to statistics provided by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會).
However, the nation’s outbound sales of finished bicycles fell 0.15 percent year-on-year to US$1.72 billion last year, and sales volume also fell 1.96 percent from 2013, the TAITRA data showed.
The trade council attributed the drop in export value and volume to a 14 percent tariff imposed by the EU on finished bicycle imports.
Despite the slight fall in export value and volume in the EU market, TAITRA said that the average selling price of Taiwan’s bicycles in that particular market rose 1.85 percent to US$458.99 last year.
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