ELECTRONICS
Wistron posts record profit
Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday reported record net profit of NT$5.36 billion (US$194.03 million) for last quarter, up 130.56 percent from a year earlier, or earnings per share of NT$1.93. The company’s revenue rose 13.29 percent year-on-year to NT$263.45 billion and gross margin increased 0.24 percentage points to 5.87 percent, Wistron said in a statement. Overall, the contract electronics makers reported net profit of NT$10.46 billion for last year, up 20.4 percent from 2021, after revenue grew 2 percent to NT$862.08 billion and gross margin improved 0.48 percentage points to 5.93 percent. Earnings per share stood at NT$3.76 last year, it said.
AUTO PARTS
Tong Yang profit jumps 63%
Auto parts supplier Tong Yang Industry Co (東陽實業) on Monday reported pretax profit of NT$37.14 million for last month, surging 63 percent from the same period last year. For the whole of last year, pretax profit totaled NT$758 million, down 14.35 percent from NT$885 million in 2020. Tong Yang attributed the decline in pretax profit to shortages of shipping containers and chips. Consolidated revenue rose 6.08 percent to NT$18.38 billion last year, from NT$17.32 billion a year earlier, the company said.
MANUFACTURING
Sheh Fung upbeat on exports
Sheh Fung Screws Co (世豐螺絲) is positive about business this year, as the property market remains strong in the US, which is favorable for screw exports. Screw exports to the US last year increased 25.63 percent year-on-year, while exports to Europe jumped 73.6 percent and shipments to Australia rose 6.82 percent, the firm said in a statement last week. Sheh Fung said its business prospects look bright as it is improving relationships with customers to carve a niche market for its products that encompasses all sizes of screws used on construction sites and for do-it-yourself home improvement projects. The firm reported record revenue of NT$2.86 billion for last year, a 26.89 percent increase from a year earlier.
BUILDING MATERIALS
Champion expects boost
Tile producer Champion Building Materials Co (冠軍建材) is expecting its revenue to rise by a double-digit percentage this year, in part thanks to the number of retail outlets selling its products growing to 267. The increase in sales channels is expected to translate into a 15 percent gain in annual revenue, the company said last week. Champion supplies tiles under three brands to meet demand from customers with different budgets. Taiwan accounts for 30 percent of its revenue and the company has raised prices for all of its products because of rising raw material prices and shipping costs.
ENTERTAINMENT
Podcast audience grows
The audience for podcasts produced in Taiwan last year increased 200 percent from a year earlier, podcast start-up SoundOn said in a report on Monday. On average, each podcast program saw a 160 percent year-on-year increase in listeners, and each listener donated on average NT$335, the report showed. The length of the average podcast episode is about 27 minutes, and the number of podcast programs that average 30 minutes or less per episode accounts for 62 percent of the total, it said. Most of the programs launched last year were in the society/culture and education categories, accounting for 30 percent of newly added programs in the year, it said.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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