SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC hiring engineers
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that it has started a recruitment campaign in preparation for a planned wafer fab in the US. It has posted information on LinkedIn about the new openings, mostly for engineers, such as research and development engineers, process integration engineers, module process engineers, module equipment engineers, facility mechanical engineers and equipment automation software engineers, the firm said. TSMC said new hires would initially work in Taipei and some would be dispatched to the wafer fab it plans to build in Arizona.
SHOPPING CENTERS
T.S. Mall to start test run
T.S. Mall (南紡購物中心) yesterday said that it is planning to begin the trial run of its new A2 shopping center in Tainan on Dec. 25. The shopping center has a total business area of about 8,000m2 spread over nine floors above ground and two underground, the company said. The shopping center would focus on catering and entertainment, T.S. Mall said. Together with the existing A1 shopping center, T.S. Mall would become Tainan’s largest shopping mall operator, it said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
GlobalWafers optimistic
GlobalWafers Inc (環球晶圓), the third-largest silicon wafer supplier in the world, yesterday said that the long-term development of semiconductor industry remains promising, despite short-term challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, unfavorable foreign exchange rates and political uncertainties around the world. The firm said its optimism is based on the continued launch of new technology products and policy support by governments for the post-pandemic period. GlobalWafers reported net income of NT$3.39 billion (US$117.22 million) for last quarter, down 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter, but up 1.8 percent year-on-year. Earnings per share were NT$7.78. In the first three quarters, combined net income fell 9.9 percent from a year earlier to NT$9.67 billion, or earnings per share of NT$22.21.
MACHINERY
Hiwin net income soars
Linear-motion component supplier Hiwin Technologies Co (上銀科技) yesterday reported net income of NT$926 million for last quarter, up 63.4 percent from the previous quarter and the highest in eight quarters, with earnings per share of NT$2.91. The firm’s revenue last quarter grew 4.3 percent from the previous quarter to NT$5.87 billion and operating margin improved by 0.55 percentage points to 28.42 percent. However, operating margin dropped 0.96 percentage points to 11.26 percent due to an increase in operating expenses, the firm said in a filing with the stock exchange. For the first three quarters of this year, combined net income fell 25.4 percent year-on-year to NT$1.36 billion, translating into earnings per share of NT$4.27.
MANUFACTURING
CFTC revenue rises 10%
China Fineblanking Technology Co (CFTC, 和勤精機), a manufacturer of metal stamping products, yesterday reported that revenue last month increased from a year earlier due to a steady recovery in the Chinese auto market. Consolidated revenue grew 10.04 percent to NT$210 million last month, the company said in a statement. Cumulative revenue in the first 10 months expanded 9.65 percent to NT$1.82 billion, it said. As production and sales in China’s auto market grow, and orders from clients continue to rise, it expects revenue for this quarter to be the highest for this year, the company said.
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
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