ELECTRONICS
Lite-On delays sale of unit
Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday said it would postpone the sale of its solid-state drives (SSD) business to Kioxia Holdings Corp, formerly known as Toshiba Memory Holdings Corp, due to disruptions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the Taiwan-based electronics components supplier struck the deal with the Japanese firm, agreeing to sell the unit for US$165 million. Citing unfinished integration work due to the pandemic, Lite-On has deferred today’s closing date until further notice, adding that the delay would not have a negative effect on the unit’s operations.
AUTO PARTS
Hiroca approves dividend
Automotive interior parts supplier Hiroca Holdings Ltd’s (廣華控股) board of directors yesterday approved a proposal to pay a cash dividend of NT$3.5 per share after posting a net profit of NT$400.53 million (US$13.24 million) for last year, or earnings per share of NT$4.78, a company statement said. The earnings results were lower than the company’s net profit of NT$546.11 million, or NT$6.51 per share, in 2018. Hiroca attributed the 26.6 percent decline to a drop in sales of new vehicles in China and foreign-exchange losses. Revenue last year dropped 7.87 percent to NT$7.43 billion, it said. Despite the pandemic, which disrupted operations at its factories in the first quarter, Hiroca said that it still expects an increase in orders from customers throughout the rest of this year.
SHIPPING
Yang Ming losses shrink
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) yesterday reported net losses per share of NT$1.66 for last year, down from losses per share of NT$2.53 a year earlier, thanks to rising revenue, more operating volume and lower unit costs. Last year, the shipper posted net losses of NT$4.31 billion, but revenue increased 5.18 percent to NT$149.18 billion, while operating volume rose 3.88 percent to 5.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units, a company statement said. Yang Ming said that this year, it aims to optimize its operational strategy and implement cost structure enhancements to improve competitiveness and customer service.
CAMERA LENSES
Genius plans cash payout
Genius Electronic Optical Co (玉晶光), a camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones, plans to pay a cash dividend of NT$9 per share, up from NT$3.5 a year earlier, and spend NT$3.46 billion on capital equipment purchases. Based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$24.79, the dividend represents a payout ratio of 36.3 percent. On Monday, the company reported a record-high net income of NT$2.52 billion for last year, with revenue of NT$12.05 billion — a company record — thanks to robust iPhone 11 sales. The company said its gross margin increased 8.2 percentage points year-on-year to 46.95 percent, thanks to greater efficiency.
UTILITIES
Hu to chair Taiwan Water
Taiwan Water Corp (台灣自來水公司) president Hu Nan-tzer (胡南澤) has succeeded Kuo Chun-ming (郭俊銘) as the company’s new chairman following the Executive Yuan’s approval, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The 64-year-old Hu, who has a master’s degree in environmental engineering from National Cheng Kung University, has worked at Taiwan Water for about 38 years, the ministry said. Hu has led many construction projects since becoming president in 2013, it said, adding that he would continue to serve as president.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
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