Automotive component supplier Hu Lane Associate Inc (胡連精密) saw its shares rally 6.41 percent yesterday amid optimism that its plan to form a joint venture in China with Lear Corp would help expedite the company’s expansion into the electric vehicle (EV) connector market and provide a growth opportunity.
Hu Lane, based in New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止), said it entered an agreement with Lear’s Chinese subsidiary, Lear (China) Holding Ltd (李爾中國), on Wednesday to create a vehicle parts trading company in Yangzhou to enter the supply chains of global automakers through vertical integration.
The joint venture is to design and produce connectors used in existing and new-generation vehicles for global automakers, the companies said in a joint statement.
Photo: Chen Rou-chen, Taipei Times
The new company is likely to be formed in the fourth quarter of this year after receiving regulatory approval, the statement said.
“The cooperation between the two parties will enhance Hu Lane’s market position in the field of automotive connectors, and optimize our existing products and technological innovation capabilities,” Hu Lane chairman Chang Tzu-hsiung (張子雄) said in the statement.
Through vertical integration in the connector parts industry, the company plans to penetrate the supply chains of global vehicle makers, Chang said.
Hu Lane shares jumped to NT$124.5 yesterday on the Taipei Exchange, the highest in about six weeks, outperforming the over-the-counter market index’s 1.41 percent gain.
“We are positive on the long-term benefits of this collaboration. Lear will improve its competitive advantages in China thanks to Hu Lane’s production and cost management,” Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a note yesterday. “We expect this joint venture to help Hu Lane accelerate its penetration in European and US markets.”
Hu Lane mostly focuses on the Chinese market. About 58 percent of its second-quarter revenue of NT$1.17 billion (US$42.13 million) came from Chinese customers, including Changan Automobile Co (長安汽車), BYD Co (比亞迪汽車) and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd (吉利汽車).
The deal would also help Hu Lane quicken its expansion into EV products, as Lear has been developing its EV-related business, covering high-voltage wire harnesses, electrical distribution systems, battery management systems, on-board chargers and AC/DC converters, Yuanta said.
Hu Lane has also developed high voltage connectors, and the two companies are likely to integrate their EV-related products in the short term, it said.
Lear generates 75 percent of its revenue from supplying car seats, and 25 percent from connectors, wire harnesses and automotive electronics, as well as EV systems, company data showed.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
RSS