Unity Opto Technology Co (東貝光電) is to invest more than NT$1.9 billion (US$63.42 million) to expand its local production, after the Ministry of Economic Affairs approved its application to join a government program to stimulate local investment, the ministry said yesterday.
The program, which was launched early last year during an escalating US-China trade dispute, has attracted 173 local firms to invest NT$718.8 billion in the nation, creating about 59,449 jobs.
Following in the footsteps of flat-panel makers Innolux Corp (群創) and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Unity Opto, the nation’s largest supplier of backlight modules for LED panels, is to set up six new smart production lines for mini-LED and micro-LED products at its existing plant in New Taipei City’s Wugu Industrial Park (五股工業區), the ministry said.
While seeking to capitalize on increasing demand for LED TVs, Unity Opto also plans to make backlight modules for various applications in automotive devices, optical sensors and other products that use visible-light communication technologies, the ministry said.
The ministry said that it also approved investment applications from three other companies.
MSSCorps Co Ltd (汎銓科技), which specializes in material analysis in the semiconductor sector, is to invest NT$1.2 billion in equipment purchases, after the company late last year set up a new manufacturing site in Hsinchu County, the ministry said.
MFC Sealing Technology Co Ltd (麥豐密封科技), which operates in the upstream of the semiconductor industry, is to invest about NT$10 billion to set up a new automated plant in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅), the ministry said.
The company, which manufacturers oil seals, o-rings and rubber molded parts, is to set up 10 production lines as it seeks to expand into other markets, such as automotive — batteries for electric vehicles — healthcare and green energy, the ministry said.
Also looking to increase its operations in Yangmei, contact lens manufacturer I-See Vision Technology Inc (昕琦科技) is to invest NT$1.9 billion to expand its existing facility by adding 21 automated production lines and a clean room.
The company’s application comes after it entered the Japanese market, where it is seeking to strengthen its presence by developing a completely automated manufacturing process, the ministry said.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained