Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday announced it is to spend more than NT$10 billion (US$318.78 million) on expanding its operational base at the Nantze Export Processing Zone (楠梓出口加工區) in Kaohsiung, in a bid to cater to the expanding scope of its new businesses.
The expansion program includes building a new manufacturing plant for automotive electronics and an operational center for its cloud-computing, industrial automation and networking divisions, the company said.
“We plan to start building the manufacturing plant in January next year and expect it to be operational by the middle of 2019,” Lite-On chief executive officer Warren Chen (陳廣中) told a news conference.
The firm plans to begin building the operational center after the completion of the manufacturing plant and it is expected to start operations by 2021, with Lite-On’s cloud-computing, industrial automation and surveillance system divisions to move into the new operational center, Chen said.
“We forecast that the expanded operational base will bring at least 1,000 new jobs to Kaohsiung,” Chen said.
However, Chen declined to disclose the range of production capacity growth for its automotive electronics segment, saying it was still too early to estimate.
Lite-On chairman Raymond Soong (宋恭源) said the development of the firm’s new businesses is an important part of Lite-On’s corporate transformation amid slowing PC and smartphone industries.
The operational base in Kaohsiung would help Lite-On expand its automotive electronics segment and accelerate the development of other new businesses, Soong said.
The firm’s automotive electronics business includes LED automotive lighting products, camera modules, body control systems for windows and head-up displays, Lite-On said.
Given that the entry barrier for the automotive electronics industry is higher than for the PC industry, the contract electronics maker has been investing in automotive electronics products for two decades.
The years of effort have started to pay off, the company said, as it has entered the supply chains for 80 percent of the world’s tier-one automakers over the past few years.
Sales contributions from automotive electronics now accounts for 5 percent of Lite-On’s total revenues, and the company foresees the contribution being as high as 10 percent to 15 percent by 2018 on the back of steadily rising demand from clients, Chen said.
Lite-On shares rose 1.03 percent to close at NT$49.25 in Taipei trading yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX, which lost 0.02 percent.
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