PANEL MAKERS
Coronavirus boosts shares
Shares of AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday rose 8.91 percent and 5.91 percent respectively in Taipei trading, compared with the TAIEX’s 1.22 percent fall, as the panel makers benefited from expectations that the 2019 novel coronavirus epidemic in China would see people stay indoors and watch TV. That would boost demand for the large TV panels the two firms manufacture, while neither AUO nor Innolux has operations in virus epicenter Wuhan, where manufacturers have been ordered to shut down their factories until Feb. 14. However, if the outbreak spreads and causes factories in eastern China to close, the supply chain would face a worst-case scenario and demand could worsen, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a client note yesterday.
ELECTRONICS
Wistron to produce PCBs
Wistron Corp (緯創), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is reportedly planning to assemble printed circuit boards (PCBs) at its new plant in India, while also ramping up its existing iPhone production in the nation. The company plans to produce PCBs at a facility in Narasapura, an industrial area about 50km from Bengaluru, Indian media reports said. Wistron started shipping iPhone 6S and iPhone 7 models from its plants on the outskirts of Bengaluru last year. Wistron’s third plant in India, the Narasapura facility started trial production more than three months ago, Indian media reports said.
CIRCUIT BOARDS
EMC plant to open Feb. 14
PCB maker Elite Material Co (EMC, 台光電子材料) said that its subsidiary in Huangshi, China, plans to resume operations on Feb. 14 to abide by local government policy amid the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak. Operations in Huangshi are still at an early stage, focusing on trial runs and worker training, the company said in a regulatory filing yesterday. Output at the factory accounted for about 3.3 percent of total sales in the fourth quarter last year, it said. None of the company’s employees had been infected by the coronavirus, EMC said. Fellow PCB maker Dynamic Electronics Co (定穎電子) said that the coronavirus outbreak has had no significant effect on its business operations.
CHIP TESTERS
CHPT revenue surges
Chunghwa Precision Test Technology Co (CHPT, 中華精測), which provides wafer and chip testing services, yesterday said its revenue last month hit the highest level for January in the company’s history, while the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak has had limited impact on its financial and business operations. CHPT posted consolidated revenue of NT$275 million (US$9.07 million) for last month, up 8.68 percent from NT$253 million in the same month last year, after benefiting from orders for semiconductor testing interface products related to 5G applications, the company said in a regulatory filing.
REGULATORS
FSC extends deadline
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said that it would extend its deadline for publicly listed companies to release their sales reports for last month until Feb. 15. Companies that cannot make the deadline should apply for approval in advance, it said. Separately, the commission approved O-Bank Co Ltd’s (王道商業銀行) appointment of Elton Lee (李芳遠) as its president, replacing Tony Yang (楊錦裕), who retired on Saturday last week. Lee was previously chief executive of the bank’s Hong Kong branch.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”