ELECTRONICS
Wistron to buy KOE shares
Contract electronics manufacturer Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday signed a share purchase agreement with JDI Taiwan Inc (台灣晶端顯示) to acquire all the common shares of Kaohsiung Opto-Electronics Inc (KOE, 高雄晶傑達光電科技), a subsidiary of JDI Taiwan, for ¥8.58 billion (US$77.16 million). Wistron made the announcement in a regulatory filing on behalf of its subsidiary Wise Cap Ltd (鼎創), whose board of directors on July 8 approved the acquisition to reinforce its partnership with Tokyo-based Japan Display Inc. “Based on the KOE’s net value of NT$1.346 billion on March 31, and taking into account other relevant pricing factors, the transaction price is set at ¥8.58 billion,” the filing said.
SILICON WAFERS
GlobalWafers clears hurdle
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that it has unconditionally cleared the requirements of the US’ Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 regarding its all-cash tender offer for Siltronic AG. The approval followed clearances already received from competition watchdogs in Taiwan, Germany, Singapore, South Korea and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US. GlobalWafers still needs approval from the competition agencies in China and Japan. The firm expects to complete the deal by the end of this year.
ELECTRONICS
Supply constraints hit Elan
Elan Microelectronics Corp (義隆電子), which supplies touchpad controller and fingerprint sensors, yesterday reported revenue of NT$1.65 billion (US$59.12 million) for last month, 0.29 percent lower than the previous month and 3.78 percent less than a year earlier, due to semiconductor supply constraints. Touchpad modules accounted for 47 percent of last month’s revenue, followed by touchscreen controllers at 26 percent, fingerprint sensors at 14 percent, pointing stick devices at 6 percent and microcontrollers at 5 percent, the firm said in a statement. In the first nine months of the year, cumulative revenue surged 35.53 percent year-on-year to NT$14.17 billion, driven by growth in the global notebook computer market, it said.
CERTIFICATION
Sporton posts record income
Sporton International Inc (耕興), which provides professional product testing and certification services, yesterday reported that its revenue last month increased 0.75 percent month-on-month and rose 31.19 percent year-on-year to a record of NT$408.24 million. The increase was due to robust demand in Taiwan, China, Japan and North America, as the markets continue to migrate to 5G technology, Sporton said in a statement. Revenue in the third quarter rose 11.82 percent from the previous quarter to a record NT$1.16 billion. From January to last month, cumulative revenue totaled NT$3.21 billion, up 24.7 percent from a year earlier, it said.
REAL ESTATE
Hiyes revenue up 16.99%
Hiyes International Co Ltd (海悅國際開發), the nation’s largest housing broker, yesterday reported that revenue last month grew 16.99 percent year-on-year to NT$405.8 million. Its revenue for the third quarter increased 2.78 percent annually to NT$1.09 billion. The firm attributed the growth to steady launches of new housing projects by developers, despite the impact of a COVID-19 outbreak, it said in a statement. In the first three quarters of the year, cumulative revenue surged 48.4 percent from a year earlier to NT$3.43 billion, the firm said.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
Clambering hand-over-hand, sweat dripping into his eyes, a durian laborer expertly slices a cumbersome fruit from a tree before tossing it down to land with a soft thump in his colleague’s waiting arms about 15m below. Among Thailand’s most famous and lucrative exports, the pungent “king of fruits” is as distinctive in its smell as its spiky green-brown carapace, and has been farmed in the kingdom for hundreds of years. However, a vicious heat wave engulfing Southeast Asia has resulted in smaller yields and spiraling costs, with growers and sellers increasingly panicked as global warming damages the industry. “This year is a crisis,”
HIGH-TECH: As leading-edge process technologies become more complicated, only a handful of players are able to provide design services, the company’s CEO said Artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) yesterday said that revenue would grow significantly again in 2026 after adding a major AI chip customer, reversing moderation amid a product transition next year. The Taipei-based application-specific IC (ASIC) designer reiterated its strong revenue growth forecast for this year and 2026 after its stock plummeted about 23 percent to NT$3,145 from a peak of NT$4,085 on March 6 amid growing competition. Alchip said it has built strong partnerships with cloud service providers (CSP), denying that it had lost orders to smaller competitors such as Faraday Technology Corp (智原). Faraday said it has secured