A 3D-printing alliance has been formed in a bid to explore the booming technology and stake a larger share of the global market, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) said.
The ITRI pushed for the alliance by organizing several local 3D-related technology development groups, such as the Additive Manufacturing Association of Taiwan, the Taiwan Mold and Die Industry Association, and the Chinese Industrial Designers Association, to cover the upstream, midstream and downstream segments of the market.
The ITRI said that the alliance is expected to bring the technology to a wide range of applications, such as musical instrument production, auto parts manufacturing, artificial limb development and lighting device production, to seize growing business opportunities.
Citing an estimate by US-based advisory firm Wohlers Associates Inc, the institute said that global 3D-printing market sales totaled US$5.16 billion last year, up 26 percent from a year earlier, with the world’s leading 3D printing firms — EOS, SLM Solutions, Arcam and Concept Laser — posting sales increases of more than 35 percent.
Wohlers, which provides consulting services in 3D-printing technology development, expects sales to hit US$20 billion by 2020.
The ITRI is encouraging Taiwanese firms to speed up their 3D-printing development in molding, aviation and medical equipment manufacturing.
Tsao Fang-hai (曹芳海), head of the institute’s laser application center, said that the ITRI has laid a strong foundation in fused deposition modeling, powder bed fusion and laser metal deposition, which could become good tools for the local 3D printing industry to use in rolling out more hardware and software applications.
Tsao said that Taiwan boasts strong information and communications technology and a creative and thriving services sector, setting a solid growth base for the 3D-printing industry.
Tsao added that through the alliance, Taiwanese 3D-printing technology developers are expected to work together in cross-industrial applications.
In a ceremony to mark the establishment of the alliance, the ITRI and 19 other Taiwanese 3D-printing technology developers, such as Starmen Opto-Electronics Co (中詮微動) and Tongtai Machine & Tool Co (東台精機), also showcased their products.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
RSS