SEMICONDUCTORS
Firm sells set-top box unit
Chipmaker Sunplus Technology Co (凌陽科技) on Tuesday said it would book a gain of NT$325 million (US$10.3 million) from selling its unprofitable set-top box chip unit to Beijing-based Availink Inc (中天聯科) for NT$330 million. As part of the deal, Sunplus is to subscribe to Availink’s new-share issue for NT$295 million, which will give it a 16.67 percent stake in the company, it said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The set-top-box business unit accounted for 10 to 15 percent of Sunplus’ total revenue last year, but posted a loss of NT$200 million. After the transaction is completed this quarter, Sunplus would lay off some engineers at the set-top-box division and focus on high-margin chips for cars, it said.
COMPUTERS
PC shipments fall 6.3%
PC shipments in the Asia-Pacific market excluding Japan fell by a slower 6.3 percent to 101 million units last year, following a 10.3 percent drop in 2013, International Data Corp (IDC) data showed. In the fourth quarter alone, shipments were flat year-on-year at 25.9 million units, slightly higher than the IDC’s forecasts. Acer Inc (宏碁), whose PC shipments contracted 14 percent year-on-year, accounted for 7.5 percent of the Asia-Pacific market, ranking it fourth. Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), whose shipments edged down 0.7 percent year-on-year, had a market share of 7.3 percent, the fifth best in the region.
TECHNOLOGY
Samsung to use own chips
Samsung Electronics Co is set to use its own microprocessors in the next version of the Galaxy S smartphone, people with direct knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, tested a new version of Qualcomm Inc’s Snapdragon chip, known as the 810, and decided not to use it, the sources said. The new Galaxy S would be equipped with Samsung’s most advanced chips, one of the people said. The South Korean company is trying to become more self-reliant and boost its own processor-making division as it spends US$15 billion on a new factory outside Seoul.
MANUFACTURING
Uni-President outlook ‘solid’
As polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin prices have fallen by 35 percent this year, Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) is expected to see significant cost savings — especially its China operations — and therefore margin improvement, Barclays Capital Securities Taiwan Ltd said in a note on Tuesday. Along with reduced foreign-exchange risks and potential market share gains in the nation’s fresh milk segment, Uni-President’s profit growth outlook for this year appears solid, Barclays Capital said, reiterating its “overweight” rating on the stock with a price target of NT$64.8.
DISPLAYS
Citigroup bullish on AUO
Citigroup has revised upward its earnings forecasts for AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) by between 59 percent and 63 percent for this year and next year, citing the company’s continuous margin expansion. Citigroup Global Markets analyst Arthur Lai (賴昱璋) said in a client note on Tuesday that AUO’s gross margin would rise to 14.8 percent and 15.4 percent this year and next year respectively, while its earnings per share could grow 54 percent year-on-year this year and 13 percent next year, given stronger panel demand leading to higher utilization rates, as well as an improving product mix and greater cost reductions. Citigroup raised its price target to NT$23 from NT$19, with a “buy” rating.
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) is expected to miss the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump on Monday, bucking a trend among high-profile US technology leaders. Huang is visiting East Asia this week, as he typically does around the time of the Lunar New Year, a person familiar with the situation said. He has never previously attended a US presidential inauguration, said the person, who asked not to be identified, because the plans have not been announced. That makes Nvidia an exception among the most valuable technology companies, most of which are sending cofounders or CEOs to the event. That includes
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
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