Tong Hsing Electronic Industries Ltd (同欣電子) named Pierre Chen (陳泰銘) as its new chairman on Friday, replacing Kevin Lai (賴錫湖), who is to become vice chairman.
Chen, chairman of Yageo Corp (國巨), the nation’s largest passive components supplier, had been expected by industry insiders to take the helm at the 45-year-old Tong Hsing, which provides microelectronic module assembly and thick-film/thin-film substrate foundry services, as the two companies were in talks to form an alliance to provide a more complete product portfolio and make their services more convenient to customers.
Chen was elected by a new board of directors approved by shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in Taoyuan.
“Facing the ever-changing international situation, it is a trend to form a national team with a strong partner,” Tong Hsing said in a statement.
The company said that together with Yageo they aim to focus on the development of various automotive, industrial regulation, security control, 5G and Internet of Things applications, according to the statement.
In preparation for capacity expansion, the company earlier this month announced that it acquired an 18,466.87m2 plot of land in Taoyuan’s Bade District (八德) for NT$1.41 billion (US$45.3 million). The company has manufacturing sites in New Taipei City’s Yingge District (鶯歌), Taoyuan’s Longtan District (龍潭) and in the Philippines’ Laguna Province.
A niche semiconductor packaging company, Tong Hsing has exposure to metalized ceramic substrates, the image-sensor back-end business, radio frequency modules and hybrid modules.
Chen takes over as chairman at a time when the company’s annual revenue has declined for two straight years since 2017. In the first five months of this year, revenue dropped 1.33 percent year-on-year to NT$2.88 billion.
Net income in the first quarter fell 27.7 percent to NT$115.24 million, from NT$159.37 million a year earlier, with earnings per share (EPS) falling from NT$0.96 to NT$0.7 over the period, company data showed.
The new board of directors includes Chen, Lai, Kaimei Electronic Corp (凱美電機) chairman Weng Chi-sheng (翁啟勝), Tong Hsing president Heinz Ru (呂紹萍), Hsin Bung International Co (興邦國際) chairwoman Jane Tsai (蔡淑貞) and Kaimei financial director Chen Pen-chi (陳本記).
Three independent directors were also approved by shareholders: Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋半導體) chairman Dennis Chen (陳進財), Global Strategic Investment Management Inc (全球策略創業投資) chairman George Yang (楊世緘) and Whitesun Equity Partners Ltd (華生資本) chairman David Lin (林宗聖), Tong Hsing said in a regulatory filing.
Shareholders also approved the company’s plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$6 per share based on last year’s EPS of NT$6.13, which suggested a payout ratio of 97.88 percent.
Tong Hsing shares closed up 1.42 percent to NT$107.5 on Friday in Taipei trading.
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
SPEED OF LIGHT: US lawmakers urged the commerce department to examine the national security threats from China’s development of silicon photonics technology US President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday said it is finalizing rules that would limit US investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology sectors in China that could threaten US national security. The rules, which were proposed in June by the US Department of the Treasury, were directed by an executive order signed by Biden in August last year covering three key sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain AI systems. The rules are to take effect on Jan. 2 next year and would be overseen by the Treasury’s newly created Office of Global Transactions. The Treasury said the “narrow
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
SPECULATION: The central bank cut the loan-to-value ratio for mortgages on second homes by 10 percent and denied grace periods to prevent a real-estate bubble The central bank’s board members in September agreed to tighten lending terms to induce a soft landing in the housing market, although some raised doubts that they would achieve the intended effect, the meeting’s minutes released yesterday showed. The central bank on Sept. 18 introduced harsher loan restrictions for mortgages across Taiwan in the hope of curbing housing speculation and hoarding that could create a bubble and threaten the financial system’s stability. Toward the aim, it cut the loan-to-value ratio by 10 percent for second and subsequent home mortgages and denied grace periods for first mortgages if applicants already owned other residential