ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai sales up on year
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which is a major assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, reported monthly sales of NT$280.02 billion (US$8.87 billion) last month, up 7.44 percent from the previous year. The monthly figure dropped 41.41 percent from January’s NT$396 billion. Consolidated revenue reached to a new record of NT$676.02 billion in the first two months of this year, according to a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which assembles Apple Inc’s latest products the Apple Watch and the 12-inch MacBook, yesterday reported a 20.64 percent annual decline in sales to NT$55.01 billion for last month. Revenue also contracted 21.54 percent from NT$70.12 billion in January. The company’s consolidated revenue totaled NT$125.14 billion in the first two months of this year, down 11.47 percent from the previous year.
CHIPMAKERS
TSMC predicts bumper year
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that in the wake of a reduced number of working days last month, its sales fell 28.1 percent from January. The decline had been widely anticipated due to the first quarter being the slow season for the global semiconductor industry. Last month, TSMC’s consolidated sales totaled NT$62.65 billion, down from NT$87.12 billion in January. Last month’s figure was the lowest since June last year, when the chipmaker’s sales stood at NT$60.34 billion. However, with demand for mobile devices on the rise, last month’s sales grew 33.8 percent from the previous year and were the highest for month on record.
ELECTRONICS
Apple tops phone sales list
Apple Inc ranked as the top smartphone seller in the nation in terms of both sales volume and value for the fourth consecutive month in January, thanks to strong demand for its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, according to statistics released yesterday by industry sources. A total of 798,000 smartphones were sold in January, up 1 percent from a month earlier, and Apple took a 24.6 percent share, the figures showed. HTC Corp (宏達電) was in second place with an 18.1 percent share by sales volume, while Samsung Electronics Co ranked third with a 13.3 percent share. Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) was fourth with 12.6 percent, while Sony Mobile was fifth with 8.4 percent.
RETAIL
H&M plans more stores
Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M), a Swedish fast-fashion brand which opened its first shop in the nation last month, yesterday said that it plans to open another three stores in the second half of the year — in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. H&M, founded in 1947, has more than 3,500 stores in 55 markets worldwide.
TELECOMS
CHT sees profit rise 3.4%
Chunhgwa Telecom Co (CHT, 中華電信) yesterday said its net profit grew 3.4 percent to NT$3.74 billion last month, compared with NT$3.61 billion in the same period last year. Revenue increased 4.3 percent to NT$19.09 billion from NT$18.29 billion a year ago. In the first two months, net profit rose 3.3 percent annually to NT$7.3 billion, accounting for 19 percent of the company’s forecast of NT$37.5 billion in net profit for this year. Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) said net profit reached NT$1.15 billion last month on revenue of NT$9.47 billion. Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信) posted NT$994 million in net profit for last month.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) forecast that its wafer shipments this quarter would grow up to 7 percent sequentially and the factory utilization rate would rise to 75 percent, indicating that customers did not alter their ordering behavior due to the US President Donald Trump’s capricious US tariff policies. However, the uncertainty about US tariffs has weighed on the chipmaker’s business visibility for the second half of this year, UMC chief financial officer Liu Chi-tung (劉啟東) said at an online earnings conference yesterday. “Although the escalating trade tensions and global tariff policies have increased uncertainty in the semiconductor industry, we have not
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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