TCL Corp, a China-based television vendor, is close to clinching a deal with Taiwan's Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (
"There is a good chance [for the tie-up] as TCL hopes to secure a stable supply of liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels for TVs in light of rising demand in China," Chunghwa Picture spokesman Liu Chih-chun (
More details will be released after TCL chairman Tomson Li (
Shares of Chunghwa Picture rose NT$0.20, or 1.57 percent, to close at NT$12.9 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, amid market speculation that the Chinese electronics provider may place orders to Chunghwa Picture for thin-film-transistor-LCD panels.
Chunghwa Picture, a leading Taiwanese slim-screen supplier, currently has two LCD-panel assembly lines in China -- in Wujian, Jiangsu Province, and Fuzhou, Fujian Province.
"Chunghwa Picture will be the biggest beneficiary from the deal, as it will help digest the firm's massive new output that is scheduled to come out in the second half of the year," said Robert Lin (林家宇), an analyst with Yuanta Core Pacific Securities (元大京華證券).
The Taoyuan-based company currently makes 46-inch plasma-display-panel TVs for TCL and supplies as many as 200,000 cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), used in traditional TV sets, per month, along with a small amount of LCD panels, Liu said.
TCL is expected to purchase TFT-LCD panels worth over US$2 billion this year from Taiwanese companies including Chunghwa Picture and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), Taiwan's No. 2 maker of flat panels, according to a Chinese-language newspaper.
Li is also expected to meet other Taiwanese industry leaders during his trip, the newspaper reported, without saying where it obtained the information.
"It's a must for TCL to increase its purchases from Taiwanese TFT-LCD-panel makers, if TCL is making inroads into the LCD TV market," said James Wu (
Chi Mei acknowledged that TCL is one of its clients, but it declined to comment on whether the Chinese firm planned to increase its orders.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks
RSS