Largan Precision Co (大立光), whose new plant in Taichung began mass production last quarter, is looking for plots of land in Taiwan to build new plants as the world’s leading smartphone camera lens supplier plans to expand its capacity to cope with growing demand, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) reported on Saturday.
The company has been investing and hiring in Taiwan for several years and is seeking to buy more land in Taichung to prepare for an expansion, Largan chief executive officer Adam Lin (林恩平) told a media gathering on Friday.
“An ideal plot of land should be rectangular, near the company’s headquarters and should cover at least 4,000 ping [13,223m2],” the newspaper quoted Lin as saying.
Largan’s investment strategy was a major factor that drove the company’s earnings per share to NT$193.66 last year, a record high, the paper said.
Largan operates 10 plants in Taiwan, with six built by itself and four taken on long-term lease, Lin said.
In China, the company runs a glass grinding factory in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, he added.
The company’s new Taichung plant covers 13,000 ping near its headquarters in the Taichung Precision Machinery Science and Technology Innovation Park (台中精密機械園區). The company has invested more than NT$20 billion (US$675.7 million) in the plant, which started a trial run in the third quarter of last year and started small-scale mass production last quarter.
Largan is halfway into designing another plant on a plot of land in the Taichung Industrial Park (台中工業區) that it acquired in July last year for NT$1.03 billion, the report said.
The firm is expected to start the construction of the new plant later this year, Lin said, without disclosing how much money it is planning to spend on the project.
Asked whether the new plant will focus on the production of plastic lenses or hybrid glass-plastic lenses, Lin said it will depend on client demand, adding that plastic lenses will remain the mainstream in handset cameras, while the hybrid products are for vehicle use.
During the company’s teleconference with investors on Thursday, Largan said that plastic lenses are ideal for shaping and superior in some key performance indicators, compared with hybrid lenses.
Lin also commented on the company’s investments in the healthcare business, saying that losses at its contact lens subsidiary, Largan Medical Co (星歐), last year narrowed significantly and he is hoping for a turnaround this year, Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported on Saturday.
As for Largan’s medical equipment subsidiary, Largan Health Technology Corp (大立雲康), Lin said that its electrocardiogram device for sleep analysis last year obtained sales permission from the China Food and Drug Administration and is ready for use in about 100 hospitals.
The device is expected to gain approval from Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration in the middle of this year, he added.
Largan has more than 6,000 employees in Taiwan and the company plans to increase headcount by 4,000 to staff its new facilities, Lin said.
Shares in Largan on Friday rose by the daily maximum to close at NT$4,100 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The stock has retreated 31.5 percent from a record high of NT$5,985 on Nov. 3, due to lack of strong near-term catalysts and amid concerns over sales of Apple Inc’s iPhone X.
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