Taiwan needs more high-end companies than just Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to remain competitive, but it must also tackle its low birthrate, Terry Gou (郭台銘), founder of Apple Inc supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), said yesterday.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the founding of the Hon Hai Research Institute, Gou said he hoped that his company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), would one day be on par with the TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker.
As a critical link in the global semiconductor supply chain and a major supplier for US tech companies, TSMC has been dubbed by foreign experts as Taiwan’s “silicon shield” and one of the reasons why the West needs to help defend the country in the event of a conflict with China.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
However, Gou said that a “silicon shield” is not enough and he expressed concern over Taiwan’s shrinking birthrate.
The dwindling birthrate appears to be an unstoppable trend that would lead to an aging population, which in turn might affect the future of Taiwan’s industry, he said.
Taiwan needs to boost its low birthrate, and it also needs more private-sector spending on research and development to transform and upgrade its industry, Gou said.
More companies should join TSMC to reinforce the “silicon shield,” he added.
Also speaking at the ceremony, National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) expressed similar views about the need to strengthen the “shield.”
Kung said he hoped that Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract manufacturer, will expand its business model beyond hardware manufacturing.
Citing Hon Hai chairman Young Liu’s (劉揚偉) launch of a platform to develop electric vehicle (EV) hardware and software, Kung said he hoped other companies will join the effort.
Hon Hai is seeking to diversify a business that depends on Apple for half of its revenue.
Early last year, the company announced a plan to form a joint venture with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV to develop and make EVs in China, although it would not be involved in any assembly itself.
In October, the company unveiled its first EV chassis as well as an open software platform that is aimed at helping EV makers deliver models to the market faster.
It is to start shipping its first developer kit in April.
The company has been supplying parts to other major automakers including Tesla Inc.
“The electric vehicle-related business will be very good in the first half of 2021,” Liu said at a company event last month.
Hon Hai shares extended gains yesterday after analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wedbush Securities Inc forecast robust iPhone sales, closing up 8.59 percent at NT$99.9 in Taipei trading, outperforming the broader market’s 1.15 percent rise.
Separately yesterday, Hon Hai did not respond to a Bloomberg News report that the company is in talks to invest in embattled Chinese electric-vehicle start-up Byton Ltd (拜騰).
The report said Hon Hai plans to invest about US$200 million and the companies aim to start mass production of the Byton M-Byte by the first quarter of next year, citing people familiar with the matter.
Such a deal would be a lifeline for Byton, which is struggling to produce its first vehicle after unveiling its M-Byte concept car several years ago.
Hon Hai is also talking to other Chinese EV makers on potential collaborations, another person said.
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
RSS