CHIPMAKERS
Lextar annual profit slumps
LED chipmaker Lextar Electronics Corp (隆達電子) yesterday reported a 57.13 percent annual decline in net profit to NT$270 million (US$8.18 million) last year. Earnings per share were NT$0.45, compared with NT$1.09 per share the previous year, the firm said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Lextar attributed the results to intensified price competition that affected sales and profitability last year. The company also posted a 4.93 percent decline in sales to NT$1 billion last month from the previous year due to the slow season and fewer working days because of the Lunar New Year holiday. In the first two months of the year, the company’s revenue totaled NT$2.17 billion, down 6.23 percent from the same period last year, the filing said.
COMPUTERS
Advantech revenue surges
Advantech Co Ltd (研華), the nation’s largest industrial computer maker, yesterday said its revenue surged 14.73 percent to NT$2.7 billion last month from NT$2.35 billion the previous year. On a monthly basis, revenue fell 17.68 percent from NT$3.28 billion in January, the company said. Advantech said the strong annual increase in monthly sales was mainly driven by robust demand in the service automation segment, as well as its network and communications unit. Advantech’s revenue totaled NT$5.99 billion in the first two months of this year, up 10.8 percent from NT$5.4 billion the previous year, it said.
CHIPMAKERS
Macronix posts higher sales
Macronix International Co (旺宏電子), which supplies memory chips for Japanese video game console maker Nintendo Co, yesterday posted a 14.84 percent annual increase in sales to NT$1.62 billion last month. The result was 3.57 percent lower than the previous month’s sales of NT$1.68 billion, the firm said. Macronix’s sales reached NT$3.31 billion in the first two months of this year, 10.89 percent higher than last year’s NT$2.98 billion.
PLASTICS
FPG sales lower on holiday
Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday said aggregate sales at its four main units dropped 9.8 percent to NT$91.97 billion last month from a month earlier due to fewer working days and some downstream clients delaying opening their businesses after the Lunar New Year holiday. On an annual basis, the combined revenue represented a 17.3 percent decline. The firm said some of its clients extended the Lunar New Year holiday and reopened their businesses after Feb. 22, which affected the performance of one of its four units — Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) — last month. The group’s three other major units are Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), and Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維).
TRADE
No pact consensus: minister
Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) yesterday said negotiators working on the proposed cross-strait trade in goods agreement have not reached a consensus with Beijing as they are still striving for better treatments for Taiwanese companies. Deng’s remarks came after China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) on Sunday told reporters in Beijing that the negotiations had been completed. In response to concerns raised by lawmakers, Deng said Taipei and Beijing have not held any talks regarding the agreement since the elections in January.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive 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 drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
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