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.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure