Solar cell maker Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光) yesterday said revenue for last month hit a 32-month high of NT$2.33 billion (US$78 million), thanks to strong demand from Japan, China and the US.
The figure represented growth of 1.42 percent from NT$23 billion in October. It was nearly three times the NT$800 million of a year earlier and follows Neo Solar’s acquisition of local rival DelSolar Co (旺能光電) in May.
“Overall demand continues to be strong,” Neo Solar said in a statement. “Recent demand from Japan, US and China helped drive global solar cell [system] installation.”
The company expects overall demand to buck the seasonal downtrend this quarter, the statement said.
Taiwanese companies are expected to benefit from rising solar cell installation in Japan ahead of the Japanese government’s plans to slash subsidies by 10 percent to ￥34 (US$0.33) per kilowatt-hour next year and trim another 10 percent to ￥30 in 2015, according to Taipei-based market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技).
Average solar cell prices have remained flattish this week from last week’s US$0.389 as price increases in high-quality solar cells were offset by price declines in standard cells, TrendForce said yesterday.
Neo Solar chief executive Sam Hong (洪傳獻) said in October that “the worst period is over. The industry has become healthier, which means any solar cell maker will be able to make a profit if it manages technologies and costs well.”
Recovery in the solar cell industry also benefits the solar wafer sector, with Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer manufacturer, reporting a record revenue for last month.
Revenue increased 2.8 percent to NT$1.28 billion last month from October’s NT$1.24 billion, the company said in a statement yesterday. The figure represents 64 percent growth from the NT$785 million in November last year.
“As the end market tends to request [more] high-efficiency products, Green Energy expects utilization rates to remain high in 2014,” the statement said.
Green Energy said prices of high-end solar wafers were stabilizing and even rising, supported by growing demand from China, Japan and the US.
Meanwhile, Giga Solar Materials Corp (碩禾), a photovoltaic conductive paste maker, yesterday said revenue hit a record high of NT$514 million for last month, because of higher shipments in its new photovoltaic silver paste.
That was an increase of 14.3 percent from October’s NT$449 million and an annual growth of 86.9 percent from NT$275 million, the firm said.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
RSS