Smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday said that it is looking to expand its Taiwan-based production capacity provided that the government helps it overcome land scarcity.
“Ideally, the company wants to purchase a large, unbroken plot of 30,000 to 40,000 ping [99,174m2 to 132,232m2 ] in Taiwan to expand production capacity,” Largan chief executive officer Adam Lin (林恩平) told a news conference following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taichung.
However, due to land scarcity, that would be a tall order without help from the government, despite efforts by the company and property agents, Lin said.
Although China has an abundance of low-priced land, it is not necessarily a better option for expansion, as the company would have to deal with rising wages and labor shortages there, Lin said.
If the company could find the land, its production base in Taiwan could be doubled in terms of land area, up from 19,000 ping, he said.
The company is undeterred by slowing growth in smartphone shipments, as demand for smartphone camera lenses is still robust, Lin said.
Thanks to improving production yield rates, sales last month exceeded the company’s expectations, growing 24.57 percent month-on-month and 14.69 percent annually to NT$4.32 billion (US$144.68 million), and the upward trend is expected to continue this month, he said.
There is a significant uptick in order visibility through next month and the company’s plants have been running at full capacity, Lin added.
Clients’ smartphone camera lens specifications are becoming more varied and complex, with advanced lenses being used in more mid-range devices made by customers who are less capable in software image optimization, he said.
While the elevated technical challenge could help the company stay ahead of rivals, it has also steepened the learning curve for each new product design, Lin said, adding that advances in camera sensors must be supported by more capable lenses for improved picture quality.
Customers have continued to push the envelope of smartphone photography, calling for advanced designs, such as multi-camera setups and telephoto lenses that require moving lens parts powered by voice coil motors and actuators, Lin said.
The government should help the smartphone camera lens industry, as the sector does not consume too much water or electricity, Lin said, adding that the plastic materials used in production are readily recyclable.
The company yesterday approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$72.5 per share, an all-time high.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday promised to help Largan, saying that it would play a bridging role between the Taichung-headquartered company and local governments.
“The Taichung area is almost saturated ... there might be some potential sites [for Largan’s new plants] in Changhua County,” Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) told reporters yesterday.
Additional reporting by Kuo Chia-erh
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
MARKET LEADERSHIP: Investors are flocking to Nvidia, drawn by the company’s long-term fundamntals, dominant position in the AI sector, and pricing and margin power Two years after Nvidia Corp made history by becoming the first chipmaker to achieve a US$1 trillion market capitalization, an even more remarkable milestone is within its grasp: becoming the first company to reach US$4 trillion. After the emergence of China’s DeepSeek (深度求索) sent the stock plunging earlier this year and stoked concerns that outlays on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure were set to slow, Nvidia shares have rallied back to a record. The company’s biggest customers remain full steam ahead on spending, much of which is flowing to its computing systems. Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc are
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
The US overtaking China as Taiwan’s top export destination could boost industrial development and wage growth, given the US is a high-income economy, an economist said yesterday. However, Taiwan still needs to diversify its export markets due to the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s administration, said Chiou Jiunn-rong (邱俊榮), an economics professor at National Central University. Taiwan’s exports soared to a record US$51.74 billion last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and continued orders, with information and communication technology (ICT) and audio/video products leading all sectors. The US reclaimed its position as Taiwan’s top export market, accounting for