SEMICONDUCTORS
WT gives revenue guidance
IC distributor WT Microelectronics Co (文曄科技) yesterday said it expects consolidated revenue of between NT$85 billion and NT$91 billion (US$2.77 billion and US$2.96 billion) this quarter, after posting sales of NT$84.8 billion last quarter, which was better than its guidance. Gross margin is likely to range between 3.2 percent and 3.4 percent, compared with 3.65 percent last quarter, while operating expenses would decrease to between 1.6 percent and 1.8 percent, compared with last quarter’s 2.01 percent, the company said. Net income was NT$990 million for last quarter, or earnings per share of NT$1.79. In the first three quarters of this year, the company earned NT$2.19 billion, up 20.42 percent year-on-year, or earnings per share of NT$3.96.
ELECTRONICS
Delta sales rise 10 percent
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the nation’s leading power and thermal solutions provider, yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$21.3 billion for last month, a 10 percent increase from NT$19.44 billion in the same period last year. Cumulative sales from January to last month totaled NT$193.69 billion, up 7 percent from NT$181.66 billion in the same period last year. Separately, Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技), a top electronics components supplier, reported consolidated sales of NT$17.6 billion for last month, up 7 percent year-on-year. Thanks to stable end demand from core businesses, cumulative sales in the first 10 months of the year decreased 2.14 percent annually to NT$174.22 billion, Lite-On said in a statement.
NETWORKING
Accton to end GDR program
Accton Technology Corp (智邦科技), a local maker of computer networking equipment such as routers, yesterday said its board of directors has resolved to terminate the firm’s global depositary receipt (GDR) program and deposit agreement to lower relevant management costs. As of Wednesday last week, the firm’s outstanding GDRs on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange totaled 37,332 units (representing 74,664 common shares), Accton said in a statement. In the first three quarters of the year, Accton reported cumulative sales of NT$30.07 billion and operating income of NT$2.44 billion. Net income reached NT$2.15 billion, or earnings per share of NT$3.89.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Wafer shipments rise 8.6%
Global silicon wafer shipments last quarter increased 8.6 percent from a year earlier in terms of surface area, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) said on Wednesday in a news release. Shipments totaled 3.255 billion square inches, up from the 2.997 billion square inches a year earlier, SMG data showed. On a quarterly basis, shipments rose from 3.164 billion square inches.
E-COMMERCE
KKday reveals new investors
Travel e-commerce platform KKday yesterday announced that Line Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Line Corp, and Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund (阿里巴巴創業者基金), a not-for-profit initiative of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), participated in its Series B+ funding. Existing investors, including CDIB Capital Group (中華開發資本) and Monk’s Hill Ventures, a Southeast Asia-focused fund, also participated with follow-on investments, KKday said in a news release. The strategic funding would accelerate KKday’s efforts to leverage innovative technologies in travel bookings and experiences, the firm said.
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
At least US$50 million for the freedom of an Emirati sheikh: That is the king’s ransom paid two weeks ago to militants linked to al-Qaeda who are pushing to topple the Malian government and impose Islamic law. Alongside a crippling fuel blockade, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has made kidnapping wealthy foreigners for a ransom a pillar of its strategy of “economic jihad.” Its goal: Oust the junta, which has struggled to contain Mali’s decade-long insurgency since taking power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, by scaring away investors and paralyzing the west African country’s economy.
BUST FEARS: While a KMT legislator asked if an AI bubble could affect Taiwan, the DGBAS minister said the sector appears on track to continue growing The local property market has cooled down moderately following a series of credit control measures designed to contain speculation, the central bank said yesterday, while remaining tight-lipped about potential rule relaxations. Lawmakers in a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee voiced concerns to central bank officials that the credit control measures have adversely affected the government’s tax income and small and medium-sized property developers, with limited positive effects. Housing prices have been climbing since 2016, even when the central bank imposed its first set of control measures in 2020, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) said. “Since the second half of
AI BOOST: Next year, the cloud and networking product business is expected to remain a key revenue pillar for the company, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu said Manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted its best third-quarter profit in the company’s history, backed by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Net profit expanded 17 percent annually to NT$57.67 billion (US$1.86 billion) from NT$44.36 billion, the company said. On a quarterly basis, net profit soared 30 percent from NT$44.36 billion, it said. Hon Hai, which is Apple Inc’s primary iPhone assembler and makes servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators, said earnings per share expanded to NT$4.15 from NT$3.55 a year earlier and NT$3.19 in the second quarter. Gross margin improved to 6.35 percent,
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