Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋半導體) yesterday said investigators suspect some of its former and current engineers of involvement in the theft of corporate secrets, some of which were sent on to Chinese rival Chengdu Gastone Technology Co (成都嘉石).
The investigation is the latest in a slew of trade-secret thefts linked to the nation’s technology companies, after employees of handset chipmaker MediaTek Inc (聯發科) pleaded guilty of stealing personnel information to be used in talent poaching last month.
Win Semi called on rivals to stop stealing trade secrets, poaching talent or employing any other unfair competition practices, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Photo: Cheng Shu-ting, Taipei Times
More than 50 investigators yesterday raided 12 locations, including the offices and homes of seven former and current employees of Win Semiconductors, and have seized important evidence, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said in a statement.
“Investigators found seven suspects, led by one surnamed Yang (楊), have passed information on key technologies developed by Win Semiconductors to its Chinese rival, Chengdu Gastone,” an investigator said on the telephone.
Chengdu Gastone approached former Win Semiconductors employees and its equipment suppliers via headhunting agencies to obtain trade secrets and key technology information, said the investigator, who declined to be named.
The Chinese semiconductor company offered bribes and jobs in exchange for valuable technology information, the bureau said in the statement.
Yang and other suspects were offered positions at Chengdu Gastone and they were set to leave Taiwan for China on Monday, the bureau added.
Win Semiconductors is the world’s largest foundry services provider of gallium arsenide components used in mobile phones. The Linkou (林口), Taoyuan-based firm has become a target of Chinese rivals as they aggressively expand their reach in the supply chain of the semiconductor industry, the statement said.
China plans to build new factories to produce gallium arsenide components in Beijing, Chengdu and Fuzhou, the bureau said, citing information it obtained.
Two months ago, Win Semiconductors told the Taoyuan District Court that it had found several employees had illegally duplicated and stored certain secret technology information. The company told the court at the time that it was highly concerned about possible leakage to rivals.
Win Semiconductors reported net income of NT$805 million (US$24.6 million) for last quarter, up 30 percent from a year earlier and 83 percent from the previous quarter, with earnings per share of NT$1.32. In the first three quarters, cumulative earnings per share reached NT$2.81, while revenue totaled NT$9.87 billion in the first 10 months of the year, up 20.11 percent from a year earlier.
The company yesterday said its operation would not be affected by the latest investigation.
Last month, management forecast revenue for this quarter to increase by high single digits from last quarter’s NT$2.913 billion with a stable gross margin, saying that inventory correction would gradually come to an end, and citing emerging signs of stabilizing demand from wireless, cellular and infrastructure segments.
Win Semiconductors shares plunged 3.43 percent to NT$46.5 yesterday, under-performing the TAIEX, which declined 1.77 percent.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
The prices of gasoline and diesel at domestic fuel stations are to rise NT$0.1 and NT$0.4 per liter this week respectively, after international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to rise to NT$27.3, NT$28.8 and NT$30.8 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$26.2 per liter at CPC stations and NT$26 at Formosa pumps, they said. The announcements came after international crude oil prices