The global semiconductor industry has entered an era of consolidation since the business has reached maturity, MediaTek Inc (聯發科) chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) said yesterday.
Large Taiwanese IC firms should gear up to seek opportunities for acquisitions to expand and secure needed technology, while smaller suppliers could be brought under the corporate umbrella of larger rivals in the future, Tsai said on the sidelines of the company’s annual general meeting.
The government should encourage local IC manufacturers to acquire foreign counterparts and assist them to facilitate the acquisitions, he said, adding that this would help local chip companies to recruit foreign talent and sharpen their competitive edge.
He made the comments after a recent series of prominent merger-and-acquisition deals, including Intel Corp’s announcement last week that it was acquiring Altera Corp, a programmable logic semiconductor supplier, for US$16.7 billion.
Tsai said that Taiwan’s technology sector should not fear competition from China, which has laid down a plan to cultivate its own tech supply chain, including the semiconductor industry, in a bid to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
He said there is room for Taiwanese IC firms and their Chinese counterparts to cooperate for a larger share of the world market, but he added that the local industry should improve itself to take on more competition.
MediaTek is determined to make greater efforts to develop advanced technologies and roll out more high-end products, Tsai said.
At the meeting, shareholders approved the company’s proposal to issue a cash dividend of NT$22 per share for last year, when the IC designer posted a net profit of NT$46.4 billion, or NT$30.04 per share.
The company distributed a cash dividend of NT$20.51 per share a year earlier.
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