ECONOMY
GDP forecast down to 2.4%
Bank of America Merrill Lynch yesterday lowered its GDP growth projection for Taiwan this year, despite better-than-expected growth in the second quarter. Taiwan’s GDP is now forecast to grow 2.4 percent this year, Merrill Lynch said in a research note, dropping its forecast from 2.7 percent on Aug. 1. “The downgrade is largely coming from weaker investment demand and a still challenging export climate,” it said. Merrill Lynch maintained its 3.1 percent GDP growth projection for next year. Last week, the government lowered its GDP growth forecast to 2.31 percent this year, from its 2.4 percent forecast in May. For next year, it predicted a GDP growth of 3.37 percent.
Computers
Panel sales continue to dip
Global shipments of large-sized panels continued to drop last month after sliding 2.5 percent the previous month due to the normal slow season effects, WitsView said in a recent note. Large-sized panel shipments totaled 63.2 million units worldwide last month, down 4.2 percent from 65.95 million units the previous month, WitsView said. Notebook panels posted the sharpest decline of 17.7 percent from the previous month to 14.61 million units, while monitors dropped 4.4 percent to 13.4 million units. LCD TV panel shipments fell 2.8 percent month-on-month to 18.25 million units last month, while tablet panel shipments rising 9.9 percent to 16.94 million units, according to the report.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
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