SEMICONDUCTORS
Xintec net income hits high
Wafer-level packaging service provider Xintec Inc (精材科技) yesterday reported that its net income for last year was the highest in five years at NT$181.98 million (US$6.05 million), or earnings per share of NT$0.67, compared with a net loss of NT$1.35 billion in 2018. Revenue last year fell 1.3 percent year-on-year to NT$4.65 billion from NT$4.71 billion a year earlier, but gross margin increased to 11.8 percent and operating margin to 5 percent, the company said. This year, Xintec plans to spend US$31.09 million to expand clean rooms and other facilities for testing 12-inch wafers, as customers are consigning testing equipment to the company, it said in a statement.
DISPLAYS
Giantplus’ China units open
Giantplus Technology Co (凌巨), which makes small LCD panels for vehicle displays and handsets, yesterday said that one of its Chinese subsidiaries, Shenzhen Giantplus Optoelectronics Display Co (深圳旭茂光電), obtained approval from the local government to resume operations yesterday afternoon. However, another Chinese subsidiary, Kunshan Giantplus Optronics Display Technology Co (昆山和霖光電), is waiting for permission to reopen, a company regulatory filing said. Heat dissipation module supplier Auras Technology Co (雙鴻) said that its Chinese subsidiaries in Guangzhou and Anhui reopened on Monday, but that its units in Kunshan and Chongqing remained shut.
TECHNOLOGY
Closures to hit Innolux profit
LCD panelmaker Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that the delayed opening of its Chinese operations would affect its revenue this month, as its factories in Ningbo, Foshan and Shanghai resumed work on Monday, while its factory in Nanjing is waiting for permission to resume operations. The company said that it has implemented a flexible work schedule to reduce the effects of the closures. Flexible printed circuit board supplier Taiflex Scientific Co (台虹科技) said that its Chinese subsidiaries in Kunshan and Jiangsu are waiting for a notice from the local government to resume work, but a factory in Shenzhen reopened on Monday. Handset keypad supplier Silitech Technology Corp (閎暉) said its Shenzhen subsidiary is scheduled to resume operation on Monday next week.
ELECTRONICS
Holiday affects TPK revenue
Touch module and sensor supplier TPK Holding Co (宸鴻) yesterday reported that revenue last month fell monthly and annually, as the Lunar New Year holiday reduced the number of working days. TPK’s revenue fell 8.3 percent month-on-month and 32.2 percent year-on-year to NT$9.53 billion, a company regulatory filing said. TPK has yet to announce whether its factories in Xiamen and Pingtan, China, have resumed operations since the holiday was extended due to the coronavirus outbreak.
SOFTWARE
Appier board adds director
Appier Inc (沛星互動科技) yesterday said that it has appointed former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) to its board of directors. Having supervised growth and operations at Google’s local unit for 14 years, Chien would be an important contributor to Appier’s business discussions and decisions, the company said in a statement. The company would leverage Chien’s significant industry know-how as well as his experience and expertise in artificial intelligence and the high-tech business, Appier CEO and cofounder Yu Chih-han (游直翰) said.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six