ELECTRONICS
Inventec records sales boost
Inventec Corp (英業達) yesterday said its sales grew 3.32 percent month-on-month to NT$36.33 billion (US$1.1 billion) last month, driven by increasing demand for handheld devices, solar power products and PCs. On an annual basis, sales declined 7.29 percent from last year’s NT$39.19 billion, the company said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing. The contract electronics maker said revenues from its handheld devices and solar power products are expected to grow by a double-digit percentage this month, while sales of notebooks and servers would remain flat.
CHIPMAKERS
Nanya revenue drops 1.2%
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said its revenue slid 1.2 percent to NT$3.37 billion last month, compared with NT$3.41 billion in October. That represented an annual decline of 17.59 percent from NT$4.09 billion the previous year. In the first 11 months, Nanya posted NT$40.31 billion in revenue, down 10.32 percent from NT$44.95 billion in the same period last year. Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技), a joint venture between Nanya and Micron Technology Inc, yesterday said its revenue shrank 22.7 percent to NT$3.43 billion last month from NT$4.43 billion the previous month. On an annual basis, revenue plunged 51 percent from NT$7 billion.
CHIP TESTERS
Revenue falls at ASE, SPIL
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s largest chip packager and tester, yesterday said its revenue contracted 5.4 percent to NT$26.27 billion last month, compared with NT$27.75 billion in October. The figure was up 4 percent from the previous year. That brought ASE’s total revenue in the first 11 months of the year to NT$261.77 billion, up about 13 percent year-on-year from NT$231.72 billion. Local rival Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) yesterday said its revenue fell 4.2 percent to NT$6.77 billion last month from NT$7.07 billion in October. That was a 6.1 percent decline from NT$7.21 billion the previous year. In the first 11 months, SPIL’s revenue fell 0.42 percent to NT$75.91 billion from NT$76.23 billion the previous year.
CREDIT CARDS
Spending passes NT$2tn
Annual credit-card spending has passed NT$2 trillion, but the average annual spending per card is still lower than in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea, the National Credit Card Center of the Republic of China said. Among the four Asian Tigers, credit-card spending in Taiwan averaged US$1,821 per card last year, compared with about US$3,000 in the three other nations, the data showed. That was despite Taiwan having a higher number of cardholders and credit cards in circulation than Singapore and Hong Kong, the center said.
STOCK MARKET
TAIEX closes 0.66% higher
The TAIEX closed up 55.67 points, or 0.66 percent, at 8,454.27 yesterday, after moving between 8,432.47 and 8,535.36, on turnover of NT$87.62 billion. The bellwether electronics sector finished up 0.99 percent, while the semiconductor sector closed up 1.77 percent and the computer sector was up 1.19 percent. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, rose 2.14 percent to close at NT$143.5. Largan Precision Co (大立光), the most expensive stock, fell 5.34 percent to close at NT$2,395.
INVESTOR RESILIENCE? An analyst said that despite near-term pressures, foreign investors tend to view NT dollar strength as a positive signal for valuation multiples Morgan Stanley has flagged a potential 10 percent revenue decline for Taiwan’s tech hardware sector this year, as a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar begins to dent the earnings power of major exporters. In what appears to be the first such warning from a major foreign brokerage, the US investment bank said the currency’s strength — fueled by foreign capital inflows and expectations of US interest rate cuts — is compressing profit margins for manufacturers with heavy exposure to US dollar-denominated revenues. The local currency has surged about 10 percent against the greenback over the past quarter and yesterday breached
MARKET FACTORS: Navitas Semiconductor Inc said that Powerchip is to take over from TSMC as its supplier of high-voltage gallium nitride chips Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday in a statement said that it would phase out its compound semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) business over the next two years, citing market dynamics. The decision would not affect its financial targets announced previously, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker said. “We are working closely with our customers to ensure a smooth transition and remain committed to meeting their needs during this period,” it said. “Our focus continues to be on delivering sustained value to our partners and the market.” TSMC’s latest move came unexpectedly, as the chipmaker had said in its annual report that it has
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), yesterday said it has trimmed its revenue growth target for this year as US tariffs are likely to depress customer demand and weigh on the whole supply chain. Gudeng’s remarks came after the US on Monday notified 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of new tariff rates that are set to take effect on Aug. 1. Taiwan is still negotiating for a rate lower than the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs announced by the US in April, which it later postponed to today. The
SECURITY WARNING: The company possesses key 3-nanometer technology, and Taiwan should prevent it from being transferred to China, a lawmaker said The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it would conduct a “strict review” of any proposed acquisition of Taiwanese tech company Source Photonics Co (索爾思光電), following media reports that a Chinese firm was planning to buy the company in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區). Local media reported that Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co (東山精密), China’s largest printed circuit board manufacturer, had announced plans to acquire Source Photonics for 5.9 billion yuan (US$823.1 million). The ministry said it has not received an application from Source Photonics and has formally notified the company that any buyout would constitute a change in its ownership structure. The
RSS