Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said chairman and chief executive officer Wang Jyh-chao (王志超) has resigned in a major managerial shake-up that would deepen the panelmaker’s restructuring efforts.
Innolux is an LCD manufacturing arm of Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) in Taiwan.
Personnel adjustments might help accelerate the “integration between panel businesses within the group,” said Wang, who is to serve as a consultant to Innolux.
Wang, who doubles as head of Foxconn’s “K” business group, is overseeing the construction of the group’s G10.5 fab in Guangzhou, China, and its first fab in the US.
Construction of the two fabs is proceeding according to schedule, Wang said.
Wang is later this month to go to Wisconsin to attend the US fab’s groundbreaking ceremony.
“Taiwanese panelmakers have come to the stage where they have to look out [for partnerships] to survive,” Wang said, adding that differentiation is not a panacea amid the rise of Chinese panelmakers.
“As Sharp Corp has incomparable [LCD] technology and Innolux has manufacturing [abilities], it would be a pity if the integration between the two did not happen,” Wang added.
Jim Hung (洪進揚), former president of Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥) and a veteran investment banker, was tapped as Wang’s successor.
Before Hung’s appointment, speculation circulated that he might divide Innolux into several businesses and group some businesses with Foxconn’s panel manufacturing arm in China in preparation for its initial public offering.
“We will not rule out any possibilities,” Hung said, responding to a question about spin-off plans. “A smaller and profitable company would perhaps lift the company’s price-to-earnings ratio and attract more [investor] attention.”
Innolux has been undervalued for a long time, Hung said.
Innolux shares rose 1.72 percent yesterday in Taipei trading to close at NT$11.8, well below the company’s book value of NT$26.5 as of March 31.
Innolux stock was only traded at 4.28 times its earnings over the past 52 weeks, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
To further restructuring efforts, Innolux’s board of directors approved the purchase of a 4.14 percent share of Vizio Inc for US$45 million.
The investment would add one more exit for Innolux’s flat panels, reduce adverse effects from an industry slump and boost its TV assembling business, the company said in a statement.
Last year, the company announced that it would resume assembling TV sets. Innolux expects TV set shipments next quarter to increase to 500,000 units a month for customers Sharp and Vizio.
Innolux shareholders yesterday approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.8 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 21.5 percent based on the company’s earnings of NT$3.72 per share last year.
Net profits climbed to NT$37.03 billion (US$1.23 billion), or earnings per share of NT$3.72.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS