Local solar cell manufacturers yesterday denied encouraging employees to take unpaid leave amid falling profits because of declining demand.
Their remarks came after local media reports, citing industry sources, said that Motech Industries Inc (茂迪) and Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶) had told employees to go home without pay so that they could cut their costs.
SHIFT TO R&D
Motech, the nation’s largest solar cell maker, “absolutely did not” ask its workers to take unpaid vacations, chief financial officer Jack Hsieh (謝祖葳) said.
Part of the company’s production capacity was not closed down, but was instead switched to research and development, Hsieh said.
Gintech also denied shutting down some of its production lines.
Taiwanese solar cell makers have recently seen prices fall to US$0.98 per watt of generating capacity because of falling demand from Europe, one of the largest markets for solar technology.
However, they said their production costs are more than US$1 per watt.
PROFITABILITY
The falling prices have taken a toll on companies’ profits.
Motech’s gross margin fell from 19.9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year to 12.5 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Other local solar cell makers reported gross margins of less than 10 percent for the January-March period, raising concern about their second-quarter performance.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
RSS