The outlook for the nation's light-emitting diode (LED) sector is promising, thanks to a pickup in demand for small panels and widening LED applications, research reports said.
"Among component stocks, we are most positive on the upstream LED sector," Citigroup Global Markets Ltd said in last week's report detailing its Asian technology outlook in the second half of the year.
The company said it had turned positive on the nation's LED supply chain given a better fundamental outlook over the next 12 months.
Although shipments of notebook computers and televisions employing LED are still small, the momentum is expected to pick up from the current quarter through the first quarter next year, it said.
Prospects are turning up thanks to the rising demand for small panels, with LED increasingly becoming the main backlight source, as well for enlarged LED use in displays or decorative lighting, Citigroup said.
Citigroup listed Epistar Corp (
"Supply consolidation and disciplined capacity expansion should translate into pricing power for upstream LED chipmakers, yet the market seems to be overlooking Epistar's earnings momentum," it said.
Epistar posted a strong 63 percent rise in May sales to NT$947.7 million (US$28.5 million) from the same period last year, while sales for the first five months were up 50 percent to NT$3.6 billion.
Epistar and Everlight were also added to the stock watch lists of Merrill Lynch & Co, which initiated coverage on Taiwan's LED sector last month with a "positive long-term" view.
"The Taiwanese LED industry is well-positioned to capture growth," Merrill Lynch said in a report on May 29.
Taiwan LED suppliers, which are second only to Japan in terms of market share, will continue to grow in scale and importance by taking advantage of their proximity to and cooperating with major local handset, notebook computer and liquid-crystal-display panel makers, Merrill Lynch said.
But packaging companies such as Everlight should not let their guard down.
The LED packaging area is becoming increasingly competitive and the key differentiating factors will be process yield technology, relationships with upstream chip suppliers and production scale size to secure allocation, Merrill Lynch said.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
RSS