Although the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) last year fell, the overall value surged 47 percent from a year earlier, propelled by US-China trade tensions, technological innovations and a realignment of the electronics supply chain, an annual report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said yesterday.
“The M&A market took a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic last year, but may regain dynamism this year, helped by sustained monetary easing by global central banks and expectations of an economic recovery from the pandemic,” Lu Ming-kuang (盧明光), chairman of the Taiwan Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Council (台灣併購與私募協會), said in the report.
Taiwanese firms, especially in the tech sector, have invested in business models with growth potential and sought to increase their market share by acquiring peers at home and abroad, the report said.
This drive to prosper explains why silicon wafer supplier GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓) bought Germany’s Siltronic AG, Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) acquired Jih Sun Financial Holding Co (日盛金控) and iPhone assembler Pegatron Corp (和碩) fully absorbed metal casing subsidiary Casetek Holdings Ltd (鎧勝控股), it said.
Catcher Technology Co Ltd (可成科技), the nation’s leading supplier of light metal casings and enclosures for mobile devices, sold two smartphone metal chassis plants to China’s Lens Technology Co Ltd (藍思科技), as it quit a sector with cutthroat competition with thin returns and searched for a new business model, the report added.
The pandemic presents challenges and opportunities to companies in information and technology supply chains and Taiwanese firms need to plan ahead five to 10 years to stay ahead of global rivals, Ennostar Inc (富采投控) chairman Lee Biing-jye (李秉傑) said in the report.
Future competition would take place between supply chains and alliances, and local firms need to understand the trend so that they can secure advantageous positions and stay competitive, Lee said.
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
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