PANEL MAKERS
Coronavirus boosts shares
Shares of AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday rose 8.91 percent and 5.91 percent respectively in Taipei trading, compared with the TAIEX’s 1.22 percent fall, as the panel makers benefited from expectations that the 2019 novel coronavirus epidemic in China would see people stay indoors and watch TV. That would boost demand for the large TV panels the two firms manufacture, while neither AUO nor Innolux has operations in virus epicenter Wuhan, where manufacturers have been ordered to shut down their factories until Feb. 14. However, if the outbreak spreads and causes factories in eastern China to close, the supply chain would face a worst-case scenario and demand could worsen, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a client note yesterday.
ELECTRONICS
Wistron to produce PCBs
Wistron Corp (緯創), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is reportedly planning to assemble printed circuit boards (PCBs) at its new plant in India, while also ramping up its existing iPhone production in the nation. The company plans to produce PCBs at a facility in Narasapura, an industrial area about 50km from Bengaluru, Indian media reports said. Wistron started shipping iPhone 6S and iPhone 7 models from its plants on the outskirts of Bengaluru last year. Wistron’s third plant in India, the Narasapura facility started trial production more than three months ago, Indian media reports said.
CIRCUIT BOARDS
EMC plant to open Feb. 14
PCB maker Elite Material Co (EMC, 台光電子材料) said that its subsidiary in Huangshi, China, plans to resume operations on Feb. 14 to abide by local government policy amid the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak. Operations in Huangshi are still at an early stage, focusing on trial runs and worker training, the company said in a regulatory filing yesterday. Output at the factory accounted for about 3.3 percent of total sales in the fourth quarter last year, it said. None of the company’s employees had been infected by the coronavirus, EMC said. Fellow PCB maker Dynamic Electronics Co (定穎電子) said that the coronavirus outbreak has had no significant effect on its business operations.
CHIP TESTERS
CHPT revenue surges
Chunghwa Precision Test Technology Co (CHPT, 中華精測), which provides wafer and chip testing services, yesterday said its revenue last month hit the highest level for January in the company’s history, while the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak has had limited impact on its financial and business operations. CHPT posted consolidated revenue of NT$275 million (US$9.07 million) for last month, up 8.68 percent from NT$253 million in the same month last year, after benefiting from orders for semiconductor testing interface products related to 5G applications, the company said in a regulatory filing.
REGULATORS
FSC extends deadline
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said that it would extend its deadline for publicly listed companies to release their sales reports for last month until Feb. 15. Companies that cannot make the deadline should apply for approval in advance, it said. Separately, the commission approved O-Bank Co Ltd’s (王道商業銀行) appointment of Elton Lee (李芳遠) as its president, replacing Tony Yang (楊錦裕), who retired on Saturday last week. Lee was previously chief executive of the bank’s Hong Kong branch.
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
TikTok abounds with viral videos accusing prestigious brands of secretly manufacturing luxury goods in China so they can be sold at cut prices. However, while these “revelations” are spurious, behind them lurks a well-oiled machine for selling counterfeit goods that is making the most of the confusion surrounding trade tariffs. Chinese content creators who portray themselves as workers or subcontractors in the luxury goods business claim that Beijing has lifted confidentiality clauses on local subcontractors as a way to respond to the huge hike in customs duties imposed on China by US President Donald Trump. They say this Chinese decision, of which Agence
RSS