Flat-panel maker Innolux Corp (群創) is to invest NT$70.1 billion (US$2.29 billion) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday, after approving the company’s plan to participate in a government program encouraging Taiwanese firms to return and invest at home.
Innolux’s investment is by far the largest among the 153 applications submitted to the program since the beginning of the year.
The applicants have pledged to invest NT$697.1 billion — of which NT$200 billion has been committed for this year — and create 56,294 job opportunities, the ministry said.
Facing rising production costs in China and an oversaturated flat-panel market, as well as trade difficulties due to US tariffs on Chinese-made goods, the Miaoli-based Innolux has decided to set up an automated “Zero Touch” production facility in Tainan’s Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區), the ministry said.
To cut personnel and manufacturing costs, the company over the past five years has been developing automation systems and smart manufacturing solutions.
It is also moving its television assembly line to Tainan, the ministry said, adding that the company aims to increase TV shipments to 6 million units this year, up from 1.8 million units last year.
Innolux is focusing on producing large LCD panels with high contrast and high refresh rates, as it looks to strengthen its presence on the global gaming market, the ministry said.
Other high-value-added products such as panels illuminated by mini LED backlights, curved LCD panels for automotive applications, screens with built-in fingerprint readers as well as applications such as virtual and augmented reality are to be part of the company’s focus, the ministry added.
Super Micro Computer Inc’s application to participate in another government-subsidized program promoting investment in Taiwan has also been approved, the ministry said.
The San Jose, California-based company is to invest NT$10 billion in a center devoted to research and development of advanced servers, as well as expanding its logistics center and introducing automated assembly lines, the ministry said.
Super Micro’s plan is expected to create 1,700 job opportunities, it said.
The ministry said it has also approved an application by IC trays manufacturer Sunrise Plastics Industry Co (晨州塑膠) to invest NT$1.6 billion in constructing an automated production plant in Taichung’s Waipu District (外埔), which would provide 47 job opportunities.
Taiwan’s long-term economic competitiveness will hinge not only on national champions like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) but also on the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, a US-based scholar has said. At a lecture in Taipei on Tuesday, Jeffrey Ding, assistant professor of political science at the George Washington University and author of "Technology and the Rise of Great Powers," argued that historical experience shows that general-purpose technologies (GPTs) — such as electricity, computers and now AI — shape long-term economic advantages through their diffusion across the broader economy. "What really matters is not who pioneers
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence (AI), smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned. Completed early this year and undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, according to two people with knowledge of the project. EUV machines sit at the heart of a technological Cold
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) last week recorded an increase in the number of shareholders to the highest in almost eight months, despite its share price falling 3.38 percent from the previous week, Taiwan Stock Exchange data released on Saturday showed. As of Friday, TSMC had 1.88 million shareholders, the most since the week of April 25 and an increase of 31,870 from the previous week, the data showed. The number of shareholders jumped despite a drop of NT$50 (US$1.59), or 3.38 percent, in TSMC’s share price from a week earlier to NT$1,430, as investors took profits from their earlier gains
TAIWAN VALUE CHAIN: Foxtron is to fully own Luxgen following the transaction and it plans to launch a new electric model, the Foxtron Bria, in Taiwan next year Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday said that its board of directors approved the disposal of its electric vehicle (EV) unit, Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), to Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進) for NT$787.6 million (US$24.98 million). Foxtron, a half-half joint venture between Yulon affiliate Hua-Chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co (華創車電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), expects to wrap up the deal in the first quarter of next year. Foxtron would fully own Luxgen following the transaction, including five car distributing companies, outlets and all employees. The deal is subject to the approval of the Fair Trade Commission, Foxtron said. “Foxtron will be
RSS