Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the nation’s leading power management provider, yesterday said its operations this quarter would likely outpace last quarter due to increasing orders for its automation and networking products.
“Revenue from industrial automation and networking grew by double-digit percentages last quarter from a year earlier. We expect the momentum to extend into this quarter,” Delta chairman Yancey Hai (海英俊) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
Hai declined to offer a range, citing regulations set by the Financial Supervisory Commission.
Industrial automation is driven mainly by the Chinese market, which contributes 50 percent to Delta’s industrial automation business, Hai said.
Chinese demand is steadily expanding as the nation increases the pace of its “smart” manufacturing, Hai said, adding that rising labor costs in China also drives manufacturers to automate.
Delta also expects orders from European and US markets to surge.
“We secured significant orders from a large new US machine toolmaker,” Hai said, without elaborating.
Looking forward, Hai said that orders for power switches, power supplies for servers and cooling systems would grow in tandem with the growing number of data centers being installed around the world.
The company remains positive about its passive components business and expects robust demand for power chokes used in smartphones in the second half, Hai said.
“Due to a specification upgrade, the number of power chokes used in new smartphones will increase by 20 percent compared with previous devices,” Hai said.
In an effort to meet the increasing demand for chokes, Hai said Delta’s expansion of its production capacity for passive components would finish at the end of this quarter and become operational in the next quarter.
The company last month announced it would spend US$100 million to expand the capacity of its passive components subsidiary in China, its largest expansion plan since 2013.
Delta yesterday reported financial results for the January-to-March quarter, with net profit reaching NT$3.91 billion (US$129.39 million), or NT$1.51 per share, flat from the year-earlier level of NT$3.88 billion, or NT$1.5 per share.
First-quarter revenue rose 3 percent annually to NT$48.92 billion, while gross margin improved 0.26 percentage points year-on-year to 27.2 percent and operating margin dropped 0.02 percentage points to 8.11 percent, the company said.
While the New Taiwan dollar appreciated 6 percent against the US dollar in the first quarter, the company still booked NT$143 million in foreign-exchange gains due to its sound risk management on currency exchanges, Delta said.
“We have a team and a set of measures to oversee the foreign currency fluctuation. We are confident that Delta could achieve its internal goal this year without having to worry about currency,” Delta chief financial officer Judy Wang (王淑玲) said.
Delta shares fell 0.58 percent to close at NT$170 yesterday in Taipei trading. The stock has advanced 6.58 percent so far this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan’s semiconductor exports to the US to encourage chip manufacturers to move their production facilities to the US, but experts are questioning his strategy, warning it could harm industries on both sides. “I’m very confused and surprised that the Trump administration would try and do this,” Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst and founder of TECHnalysis Research in California, said in an interview with the Central News Agency on Wednesday. “It seems to reflect the fact that they don’t understand how the semiconductor industry really works,” O’Donnell said. Economic sanctions would