The output value of Taiwan’s printed circuit board (PCB) industry is expected to reach a record high this year, despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) said yesterday.
The PCB industry had “no reason to be optimistic about 2020 at the beginning of the year,” the association said in a report. “But fortunately, the 5G early-stage infrastructure and carrier applications filled the gap caused by the pandemic in a timely manner, further promoting PCB price and value.”
Predicting that the industry’s factory utilization rate in the fourth quarter would stay “at a high level,” the association said it expects this year’s annual output value of the industry would reach NT$678.5 billion (US$23.85 billion), which would be a “new high,” the report said.
Photo: Tsai Ching-hua, Taipei Times
The PCB output value of Taiwanese companies with operations in Taiwan and China hit NT$185 billion in the third quarter, which was relatively flat compared with the same quarter last year, the report said.
However, if accounting for exchange rate volatility in the New Taiwan dollar, the output value would have been 6 percent higher in the third quarter year-on-year, it said.
The association said in a statement that it credited 5G-related demand for “enabling Taiwan’s PCB industry to maintain its output value, despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
That also came as many Taiwanese businesses were returning home to invest or expand production in light of rising demand for high-end 5G products, the association said.
Taiwanese companies with operations in China have slightly lost ground in the third quarter, it said.
“The overall performance of Taiwanese companies [with domestic operations] has been better than that of Taiwanese companies in China,” the association said.
China operations accounted for 62.5 percent of Taiwanese PCB makers’ total output in the third quarter, down 1 percent from the previous quarter, it said.
IC substrates and rigid PCBs were “key players” for growth in the third quarter, it said.
“Output of IC substrates reported double-digit percentage growth in the third quarter. Due to capacity constraints and supply shortages, IC substrates would still be the main growth engine for Taiwan’s PCB industry,” the association said.
Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high yesterday, the first trading day of the new year, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) continued to break records amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 386.21 points, or 1.33 percent, at 29,349.81, with turnover totaling NT$648.844 billion (US$20.65 billion). “Judging from a stronger Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, I think foreign institutional investors returned from the holidays and brought funds into the local market,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said. “Foreign investors just rebuilt their positions with TSMC as their top target,
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
H200 CHIPS: A source said that Nvidia has asked the Taiwanese company to begin production of additional chips and work is expected to start in the second quarter Nvidia Corp is scrambling to meet demand for its H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips from Chinese technology companies and has approached contract manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to ramp up production, sources said. Chinese technology companies have placed orders for more than 2 million H200 chips for this year, while Nvidia holds just 700,000 units in stock, two of the people said. The exact additional volume Nvidia intends to order from TSMC remains unclear, they said. A third source said that Nvidia has asked TSMC to begin production of the additional chips and work is expected to start in the second
US President Donald Trump on Friday blocked US photonics firm HieFo Corp’s US$3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp, citing national security and China-related concerns. In an order released by the White House, Trump said HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China” and that its 2024 acquisition of Emcore’s businesses led the US president to believe that it might “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” The order did not name the person or detail Trump’s concerns. “The Transaction is hereby prohibited,”
RSS