Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (
The company's board of directors has approved a plan to inject US$60 million into a liquid-crystal-display (LCD) module plant located in Foshan, Guangdong Province, and US$30 million at another LCD module plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, the filing said.
"The investments are still pending approval from the government's Investment Commission," a Chi Mei spokeswoman said.
So far, Chi Mei has invested US$5 million in the Foshan unit and US$90 million in the Ningbo unit, according to the filing.
If the new investment application receives the government's green light, Chi Mei said in the filing that the company will have accumulated investment of up to US$271 million in China.
Earlier this month, Chi Mei said it would team up with TCL Corp, China's biggest publicly traded consumer-electronics maker, in the production of LCD modules there, after the company revealed last month a plan to set up LCD module production plants in the Czech Republic.
According to the company, the Foshan plant in China is scheduled to begin operations by the end of this year with a monthly capacity expected to reach 2 million units by the fourth quarter.
The Ningbo plant is operating at a capacity of 1.35 million units per month. Another facility being built at the same complex is to start operations next year.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective