Advantech Co (研華), the world’s biggest maker of industrial computers, expects increasing industrial automation demand from China to boost its industrial Internet of Things (IoT) business revenue in the region by a double-digit percentage next year, extending this year’s growth momentum.
China’s fast-growing electronics and automotive sectors are fueling demand for robots and automation as Chinese manufacturers battle rising labor costs, Advantech industrial IoT group vice president Allan Tsay (蔡奇男) told reporters on the sidelines of the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show at Taipei’s Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1.
Chinese manufacturers’ latest push for “intelligent” factories is driving demand for industrial Internet of Things solutions, Tsay said.
Rising demand from Chinese firms in Apple Inc’s supply chain to automate production lines ahead of the launch of Apple’s new iPhones has also boosted orders, he added.
Automation deployment in China helped boost Advantech’s industrial IoT revenue in the region by more than 10 percent annually in the first half of this year, Tsay said.
The growth momentum will carry into the second half and is expected to strengthen next year as local Chinese governments aim to roll out more “smart” city projects, especially intelligent rail systems, he added.
“Smart cities will be the next leg of growth, following intelligent manufacturing,” Tsay said.
Increasing uptake of wireless technologies such as narrow-band Internet of Things and long-range wide area networks facilitate the deployment of smart cities because of broader Internet coverage, he added.
Advantech offers a total solution for industrial automation, including hardware and software for data collection and big data analysis, he added.
A new cloud-enabled platform, dubbed WISE-PaaS, will allow customers to monitor and manage production lines from a remote “war room,” Advantech said.
By offering tailor-made services for diverse sectors, Advantech expects the number of its WISE-PaaS partners to rise to 400 within the next three years, compared with the current 57, Tsay said.
WISE-PaaS can be adapted for factory environment surveillance, such as monitoring energy consumption, wastewater or air pollution at different facilities, he said.
Advantech reported revenue of NT$3.82 billion (US$127.07 million) for last month, up 11.17 percent monthly and 6.8 percent annually. Cumulative revenue in the first eight months totaled NT$28.68 billion, up 3.7 percent annually.
Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewelry shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned. A souring of Tokyo-Beijing relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fueled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash. However, businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety. “Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” Ito
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and the company’s former chairman, Mark Liu (劉德音), both received the Robert N. Noyce Award -- the semiconductor industry’s highest honor -- in San Jose, California, on Thursday (local time). Speaking at the award event, Liu, who retired last year, expressed gratitude to his wife, his dissertation advisor at the University of California, Berkeley, his supervisors at AT&T Bell Laboratories -- where he worked on optical fiber communication systems before joining TSMC, TSMC partners, and industry colleagues. Liu said that working alongside TSMC
TECHNOLOGY DAY: The Taiwanese firm is also setting up a joint venture with Alphabet Inc on robots and plans to establish a firm in Japan to produce Model A EVs Manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday announced a collaboration with ChatGPT developer OpenAI to build next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and strengthen its local supply chain in the US to accelerate the deployment of advanced AI systems. Building such an infrastructure in the US is crucial for strengthening local supply chains and supporting the US in maintaining its leading position in the AI domain, Hon Hai said in a statement. Through the collaboration, OpenAI would share its insights into emerging hardware needs in the AI industry with Hon Hai to support the company’s design and development work, as well