Yageo Corp (國巨), the nation’s largest passive components supplier, on Saturday broke ground for a new plant in Kaohsiung that is expected to begin commercial production in 2022.
Yageo chairman Pierre Chen (陳泰銘) told the groundbreaking ceremony that it would be the company’s first new plant in the city in 15 years as it embarks on a plan to move its high-end technology production back home from overseas.
The plant, which is expected to be completed in August 2022, would produce passive components, such as chip resistors, inductors and multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), starting in October that year, Yageo said.
Photo: CNA
The plant is being built at a cost of NT$5 billion (US$173.33 million), with an additional NT$13 billion to NT$15 billion allocated for equipment to produce advanced MLCCs, and is expected to create 3,000 new jobs, the company said.
The facility would have 10 stories with a floor area of 85,800m2, about 1.3 times the size of Yageo’s two other MLCC factories in Kaohsiung.
When the plant starts operation, 60 percent of Yageo’s total MLCC production would be in Taiwan, Chen said.
The production lines in Taiwan are to manufacture specialty and high-end MLCCs for use in the fields of automotive electronics, medical care, aviation, 5G and the Internet of Things, among others, he said.
With three plants in operation in Taiwan, Yageo’s MLCC production capacity would increase from 60 billion to 100 billion units per month, cementing its position as a leading global MLCC supplier, Chen said.
Yageo would also boost its development of high-technology through expansion, he said, citing the company’s acquisition earlier this year of US companies Kemet Corp and Pulse Electronics Corp for US$1.64 billion and US$740 million respectively.
Yageo would continue to invest in Kaohsiung as part of its plan to make Taiwan its manufacturing hub over the next five years, Chen said.
The company said it has teamed up with National Cheng Kung University in Tainan to establish a research and development center, where it would set up an academy to foster talent for the development of passive components.
Yageo has invested at least NT$50 million in the center, which has two research compounds, one in Kaohsiung and the other at the university.
Yageo is the largest maker of chip resistors and tantalum capacitors, but only 25 percent of its employees are in Taiwan, while 50 percent of its overseas workers are in China.
BULLISH: Although the central bank has turned the nation’s currency into a winner against Asian peers, it is still down more than 4 percent against the US dollar this year The Singapore dollar this year has established itself as Asia’s most resilient currency against the US dollar, and some strategists are betting on more strength if price pressures force the nation’s central bank to tighten its exchange-rate policy again next month. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Citigroup Inc and MUFG Bank Ltd are among banks that are bullish on the currency, underpinned by an expectation that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) could extend policy tightening at its October meeting to help rein in core inflation, which hit a 14-year high in July. The predictions come as almost every major currency retreats against
Apple Inc might make one out of four iPhones in India by 2025, JPMorgan & Chase Co analysts said yesterday, as the tech giant moves some production away from China, amid mounting geopolitical tensions and strict COVID-19 lockdowns in the country. JPMorgan expects Apple to move about 5 percent of iPhone 14 production from late this year to India, which is the second-biggest smartphone market in the world after China. It is also estimating that about 25 percent of all Apple products, including Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, would be manufactured outside China by 2025 from 5 percent currently. The US company
HEADING SOUTH: The US company chose Kaohsiung as its site as more customers, partners and start-ups have expanded their operations to the southern city Qualcomm Inc yesterday inaugurated a new innovation center in Kaohsiung as it steps up efforts to foster local start-ups and a 5G technology ecosystem in the city, following in the footsteps of its local partners. The US chip company’s move fits the Kaohsiung City Government’s plan to build a semiconductor supply chain within the next five years, highlighted by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) first chip plant in the city. TSMC plans to start building the factory by the end of this year, and to start production of 28-nanometer and 7-nanometer chips there in 2024. Qualcomm said it had been
SLUMPING DEMAND: Inventory has climbed by up to 12 weeks as suppliers are under mounting pressure to offload excessive reserves, a TrendForce report said The price of DRAM chips is expected to fall at a steeper rate of 13 to 18 percent next quarter, as high inflation continues to weigh on demand for consumer electronics, causing chip inventories to soar, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. The downtrend in DRAM prices could extend from a quarterly decline of 10 to 15 percent in the third quarter, the Taipei-based researcher said. “Demand for consumer electronics continued to stagnate during the third quarter, which used to be a high demand season,” TrendForce said in a statement. “During the quarter, memorychip consumption and shipments both showed quarterly
RSS