Gudeng Precision Industrial Co Ltd (家登), the sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pods to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), yesterday forecast record, double-digit percentage revenue growth for this year.
The company said that new orders from Chinese semiconductor companies would add to already strong demand, which it plans to meet with a new plant in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城).
It is to hold a groundbreaking ceremony next month or in March, it said.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
Remote working and the stay-at-home economy have caused a surge in demand for semiconductor products used in a wide range of Internet-based devices, servers and data-storage units, Gudeng chairman Bill Chiu (邱銘乾) told reporters in Tainan.
GROWING CAPACITY
The firm has “clear order visibility” for this quarter, as its main products — EUV, deep ultraviolet and wafer pods — all show strong demand, it said, adding that Chinese customers have offered visibility to next quarter.
Gudeng’s comments came after TSMC on Jan. 14 forecast quarterly revenue growth of up to 2.52 percent, bucking a seasonal lull in the January-to-March quarter.
Gudeng also supplies pods to Intel Corp.
EUV pods are to make up about 60 percent of its wafer pods, up from 50 percent last year, Chiu said.
The company has increased its installed capacity of EUV pods from 1,000 units per month last year to 1,500 units, with plans to increase capacity to 2,000 units by the end of the year, he said.
Gudeng expects a double-digit percentage increase in revenue this year from NT$2.5 billion (US$88.06 million) last year, as its major customer accelerates production of 5-nanometer chips, which require more EUV pods than 7-nanometer production.
‘OPTIMISTIC’
In China, Gudeng has secured orders of 8-inch and 12-inch wafer pods, and wafer cassettes from United Semiconductor (Xiamen) Co Ltd (聯芯科技), Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology Co Ltd (蘇州長電) and Silan Microelectronics Co Ltd (士蘭微電子).
“Order visibility from Chinese customers is stronger in the second quarter,” Gudeng said in a statement. “We are optimistic about overall operations this year.”
Gudeng is striving to expand its customer base to silicon wafer suppliers in search of a new growth engine.
The company expects to start shipping its first batch of “front-opening shipping boxes” to a client later this year.
The company also expects to produce aircraft landing gear barrels, used by Airbus SE and Boeing Co, for customers from the second half of this year.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last