RETAILERS
FamilyMart plan approved
Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店), the nation’s second-biggest convenience store chain, plans to invest NT$16.8 billion (US$592.7 million) to expand its logistics facilities amid a rise in online shopping, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday as it approved the company’s application to join the government’s “Invest in Taiwan” initiative. FamilyMart said it plans to expand its logistics capacity in Taichung, Hualien County and Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口). The new facilities are to start operations next year and in 2024. The company operates eight logistics centers in Taiwan. Part of the investment would be to install solar panels on the rooftops of the centers with assistance from AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), FamilyMart said. The investment would create about 2,000 jobs, the ministry said.
PANEL MAKERS
AUO to invest in Taichung
The Taichung City Government yesterday welcomed an announcement by LCD panel maker AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) that it is to invest more than NT$100 billion to build an advanced G8.5 production line in the city. The new facility is to be built in the Houli District (后里) section of the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區). AUO last month told investors that it planned to use the new facilities to make high-end flat panels for notebook computers and monitors, with an aim to expand its market share. The company also plans to ramp up micro-LED display production at the new facilities, it said, adding that operations are to begin in 2025.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC revenue rises
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday said revenue last month expanded 37.9 percent to NT$146.93 billion from NT$106.53 billion a year earlier. On a monthly basis, revenue dipped 14.7 percent from NT$172.18 billion. In the first two months of this year, revenue surged 36.8 percent to NT$319.11 billion, from NT$233.28 billion in the same period last year, the company said. Separately, Gudeng Precision Industrial Co Ltd (家登), the sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet pods to TSMC, reported annual revenue growth of 53 percent to NT$277 million last month, benefiting from capacity expansion among customers. However, last month’s figure declined 17.56 percent from NT$336 million in January due to fewer working days, it said. In the first two months, revenue soared 52.68 percent year-on-year to NT$402 million, Gudeng said, adding that it has clear order visibility through the third quarter.
BICYCLES
Giant, Merida results mixed
The nation’s two major bicycle makers, Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達), yesterday reported mixed revenue results for last month. Giant, Taiwan’s largest bicycle manufacturer, posted revenue of NT$6.69 billion, an annual increase of 18.93 percent, the company said in a statement. Giant attributed the growth to strong sales in the US, Europe and China, as well as higher shipments from its contract business. Merida’s revenue fell 14.9 percent annually to NT$2.297 billion, Merida said in a separate statement. The firm blamed the decline on a high comparison base. In the first two months of this year, Giant’s revenue grew 9.61 percent year-on-year to NT$13.36 billion, while Merida’s revenue dropped 0.18 percent to NT$4.82 billion and shipments declined 12.78 percent to 159,674 units. Giant did not offer a shipments figure.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
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