Machinery maker Hiwin Technologies Co (上銀科技) on Thursday reported record-high revenue of NT$14.34 billion (US$470.16 million) in the first half of the year on the back of robust demand.
The Taichung-based company saw sales from January to last month jump 52.48 percent from NT$9.4 billion in the same period last year.
Last month alone, revenue soared 52.51 percent year-on-year to NT$2.7 billion from NT$1.77 billion, company filings showed.
Photo: Lo Chien-yi, Taipei Times
Hiwin, known for its linear guideways and ball screws, said it expects its growth momentum to extend into the next two quarters thanks to expanded capacity and growing orders from foreign customers.
A new factory at Chiayi Dapumei Precision Machinery Park (嘉義大埔美精密機械園區) is to begin operations by the end of this month, Hiwin chairman Eric Chuo (卓永財) said at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting last month.
The company would also start mass production of new ball screws with sensors that can detect short circuits by the end of the year to meet demand from German customers that have been working on “smart machinery” technologies for years, Hiwin said.
Hiwin, which last year started supplying machinery components to leading Japanese automakers including Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co, expects revenue from Japanese customers to grow this year, it said.
Separately, pneumatic components supplier Airtac International Group (亞德客) also posted strong sales performance for last month and for the first half of the year.
The company posted NT$1.49 billion in revenue for last month, up 12.41 percent from NT$1.32 billion in the same period last year, bringing cumulative revenue in the first half to NT$8.17 billion, a 27.49 percent annual increase from NT$6.41 billion.
Despite the global economic recovery, some of Airtac’s customers appear hesitant to place orders amid fears about the trade dispute between the US and China, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
RECYCLE: Taiwan would aid manufacturers in refining rare earths from discarded appliances, which would fit the nation’s circular economy goals, minister Kung said Taiwan would work with the US and Japan on a proposed cooperation initiative in response to Beijing’s newly announced rare earth export curbs, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. China last week announced new restrictions requiring companies to obtain export licenses if their products contain more than 0.1 percent of Chinese-origin rare earths by value. US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent on Wednesday responded by saying that Beijing was “unreliable” in its rare earths exports, adding that the US would “neither be commanded, nor controlled” by China, several media outlets reported. Japanese Minister of Finance Katsunobu Kato yesterday also
Taiwan’s rapidly aging population is fueling a sharp increase in homes occupied solely by elderly people, a trend that is reshaping the nation’s housing market and social fabric, real-estate brokers said yesterday. About 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident, the Ministry of the Interior said. The figures have nearly doubled from a decade earlier, Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said, as people aged 65 and older now make up 20.8 percent of the population. “The so-called silver tsunami represents more than just a demographic shift — it could fundamentally redefine the
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) said it expects peak season effects in the fourth quarter to continue to boost demand for passenger flights and cargo services, after reporting its second-highest-ever September sales on Monday. The carrier said it posted NT$15.88 billion (US$517 million) in consolidated sales last month, trailing only September last year’s NT$16.01 billion. Last month, CAL generated NT$8.77 billion from its passenger flights and NT$5.37 billion from cargo services, it said. In the first nine months of this year, the carrier posted NT$154.93 billion in cumulative sales, up 2.62 percent from a year earlier, marking the second-highest level for the January-September
‘DRAMATIC AND POSITIVE’: AI growth would be better than it previously forecast and would stay robust even if the Chinese market became inaccessible for customers, it said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday raised its full-year revenue growth outlook after posting record profit for last quarter, despite growing market concern about an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble. The company said it expects revenue to expand about 35 percent year-on-year, driven mainly by faster-than-expected demand for leading-edge chips for AI applications. The world’s biggest contract chipmaker in July projected that revenue this year would expand about 30 percent in US dollar terms. The company also slightly hiked its capital expenditure for this year to US$40 billion to US$42 billion, compared with US$38 billion to US$42 billion it set previously. “AI demand actually