Kinko Optical Co (今國光), a supplier of glass-lens kits used in products including Canon Inc’s digital single-lens reflex cameras, yesterday posted record revenue of NT$683.22 million (US$22 million) for last month.
The figure for last month was up 4.05 percent from a month ago and a jump of 12.05 percent from the same month last year, with Kinko saying it has gained strong orders from customers such as Canon and Nikon Corp.
Global shipments of digital cameras are expected to fall 12.5 percent this year from last year as the slowing global economy cut customer demand and smartphone cameras erode market share, Digitimes Research said in a report issued earlier this week.
However, Kinko is riding the wave of a still-strong demand for high-end digital cameras from Canon and Nikon.
The Taipei-based market researcher forecast Canon would become the No. 1 vendor this year and Nikon would overtake Samsung Electronics Co to become the third-largest vendor.
Kinko’s cumulative sales for the first eight months of this year totaled NT$4.5 billion, up 21.1 percent from NT$3.71 billion for the same period of last year, the company said in its filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Separately, Largan Precision Co (大立光), the nation’s leading maker of handset lenses, on Wednesday reported strong sales of NT$1.53 billion for last month, which was up 30 percent from July and 4.39 percent higher than the year before.
“The figure is exceeding our market expectations of NT$1.3 billion to NT$1.4 billion,” Jeff Pu (蒲得宇), an equity research analyst at Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券), said yesterday.
“Given competitors’ weakness and the upcoming iPhone 5 launch on September 12, we expect Largan’s September sales to grow month-on-month,” he added.
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
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
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
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,
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